drought
Extended rainless period
A drought is an extended period of abnormally low rainfall, causing water shortages and crop failure.
The word extends to any prolonged absence or scarcity: a drought of new ideas, The team's scoring drought lasted three games.
In some regions, drought also means thirst or dryness generally.
Devoid of water
- parchedExtremely dry or thirsty
- heatwaveProlonged abnormally high temperatures
- rainlessLacking precipitation
- desertificationLand becoming barren, infertile
dustbowl · aridity · semi-arid · subtropical · high-pressure · evapotranspiration · meteorological · hydrological
Unable to produce
- desolateBleak and abandoned
- parchedExtremely dry or thirsty
- dustyCoated with fine particles
- witheredDried and shrunken
brown · tumbleweed · desiccated · bleached · hardpan · fissured · eroded · wasteland
Extremely dry or thirsty
- dehydratedSeverely lacking moisture
- desperateDriven by urgent need
- gaspingBreathing in sharp gulps
- thirstinessNeed for fluid intake
longing · need · sunstroke · dehydration · survival
Extreme nutritional deprivation
- hungerNeed for nourishment
- malnutritionDisease from dietary inadequacy
- displacementRemoval from usual location
- migrationMovement to new territory
refugee · emaciation · hoarding · subsistence
Insufficiency of something needed
- rationingLimiting distribution during scarcity
- conservationPreventing waste or loss
- cisternWater storage chamber
- pipelineLong-distance fluid transport tube
desalination · allocation · curtailment · shortage · deficit · dwindling
arid
Devoid of water
- parchedExtremely dry or thirsty
- heatwaveProlonged abnormally high temperatures
- rainlessLacking precipitation
desertification · dustbowl · aridity · semi-arid · subtropical · high-pressure · evapotranspiration · meteorological · hydrological
barren
Unable to produce
withered · brown · tumbleweed · desiccated · bleached · hardpan · fissured · eroded · wasteland · badlands
parched
Extremely dry or thirsty
- dehydratedSeverely lacking moisture
- desperateDriven by urgent need
- gaspingBreathing in sharp gulps
thirstiness · longing · need · sunstroke · dehydration · survival
starvation
Extreme nutritional deprivation
- hungerNeed for nourishment
- malnutritionDisease from dietary inadequacy
- displacementRemoval from usual location
migration · refugee · emaciation · hoarding · subsistence
scarcity
Insufficiency of something needed
- rationingLimiting distribution during scarcity
- conservationPreventing waste or loss
- cisternWater storage chamber
pipeline · desalination · allocation · curtailment · shortage · deficit · dwindling
fallow
Unplanted field recovering
- fallowingLeaving cropland unplanted
recovery
Regaining what was lost
- resilienceCapacity to recover quickly
- natural phenomenaaurora, northern lights, southern lights, eclipse, solar eclipse
- weather termssunny, rainy, cloudy, stormy, snowy
- earth scienceatmosphere, earthquake, geology, volcano, crust
- crop threatspests, pest, blight, disease, insects
- desert thingssand, cactus, cacti, camel, dune
- environmental hazardsair pollution, water pollution, climate change, global warming, oil spill
droughtflood
Overwhelming water overflow
deluge · monsoon · inundation · downpour · torrent
droughtbumper crop
Unusually large harvest
harvest · bountifulness · verdancy · lushness · flourishing
- regional droughtProlonged water scarcity nearby
- drought reliefHelp during prolonged dryness
- goal droughtProlonged failure to score
- drought tolerantAble to survive dryness
- drought conditionsExtended period without rain
- drought resistantAble to withstand dryness