Hunger

How to spell hunger

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce hunger

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does hunger mean?

1. nounThe uncomfortable sensation or condition caused by needing food, or by extension a strong desire for something.
2. verbTo feel a strong need or craving, especially for food or for something deeply wanted.

Hunger in a sentence

• noun

  A quick snack at noon kept her hunger at bay until dinner.

• verb

  Many refugees hunger for safety and a stable home.

• noun

  The charity works to end hunger in the poorest regions.

• verb

  The stray dogs hunger for scraps on the cold winter nights.

Where does hunger come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

Hunger is a thoroughly native English word, descending from the Old English noun hungor, which already meant exactly what it means today: the painful craving for food. It traces back to a Proto-Germanic form reconstructed as hungruz, the same source that gives modern German Hunger and Dutch honger, so the word has barely changed in well over a thousand years. From the earliest records it carried a figurative use as well, describing any strong craving or longing, which is why we still speak of a hunger for knowledge or success. The spelling has stayed remarkably stable, keeping the -ng- cluster and the soft final -er throughout its history. Because it is a plain Germanic survivor rather than a borrowed Latin or French term, it has no hidden silent letters or foreign quirks, which is part of why it feels so ordinary to write.

How the word is built

• hunger (from Old English hungor, a single root word; the final -er is part of the original stem, not a suffix)