hungered
Felt strong desire
Hungered is the past tense of hunger, meaning to feel or experience hunger.
Beyond physical appetite, it usually describes intense longing or craving: She hungered for recognition, They hungered after power.
The figurative use is more common than the literal—for actual food, people typically say "was hungry" rather than "hungered."
Intensely, painfully hungry
- ravenousExtremely hungry, insatiable
- starvingSuffering extreme hunger
- malnourishedLacking proper nutrition
- underfedLacking adequate food
emaciated · gaunt · fasting · pangs · gnawing · hollow · appetite · nourishment
Extreme nutritional deprivation
- droughtProlonged water scarcity
- crop failureWhen fields yield nothing
- malnutritionDisease from dietary inadequacy
- humanitarian crisisLarge-scale emergency harming populations
scarcity · desolation · locusts · emergency rations · subsistence · displacement · parched · blighted
Intense, persistent desire
- cravingPowerful urge to have
- yearningIntense prolonged craving
- piningAching with prolonged desire
- achingExperiencing dull pain
thirsting · desiring · coveting · hankering · wistfulness · nostalgia · languishing · infatuation
Suffering extreme hunger
- deprivedLacking necessities
- wantingAbsent or insufficient
- needyWanting in essentials
- impoverishedExtremely lacking in money
destitute · lacking · bereft · dispossessed · scarcity · poverty · hardship · want
Intensely determined to achieve
- aspiringSeeking to achieve
- strivingEarnest sustained endeavor
- motivatedSpurred to action
- determinedFirmly committed to purpose
zealous · eager · pursuing · passionate · goal-oriented · tenacious · persistent · willful
famished
Intensely, painfully hungry
- ravenousExtremely hungry, insatiable
- starvingSuffering extreme hunger
- malnourishedLacking proper nutrition
underfed · emaciated · gaunt · fasting · pangs · gnawing · hollow · appetite · nourishment · sustenance
starvation
Extreme nutritional deprivation
- droughtProlonged water scarcity
- crop failureWhen fields yield nothing
- malnutritionDisease from dietary inadequacy
humanitarian crisis · scarcity · desolation · locusts · emergency rations · subsistence · displacement · parched · blighted · rationing
longing
Intense, persistent desire
aching · thirsting · desiring · coveting · hankering · wistfulness · nostalgia · languishing · infatuation · obsession
starved
Suffering extreme hunger
impoverished · destitute · lacking · bereft · dispossessed · scarcity · poverty · hardship · want · paucity
driven
Intensely determined to achieve
determined · zealous · eager · pursuing · passionate · goal-oriented · tenacious · persistent · willful · ambitious
- emotional hungerCraving for connection
- hunger strikeProtest through refusing food
- world hungerInsufficient food worldwide
- hunger pangsPainful emptiness craving food
- hunger painsStomach discomfort from emptiness
- The Hunger GamesDystopian survival competition series