hungry
Word family
Synonym discussion
Sense: adjective/1
All four words describe a need for food, but they differ in intensity and register. Hungry is the everyday, neutral word — you use it at any time for any level of food need. Ravenous suggests an extremely strong hunger, as if you could eat a large amount. Famished is a more dramatic synonym often used for emphasis ('I'm famished — let's eat!') and works well in informal conversation. Starving is the most intense of the four but is commonly used as hyperbole in casual speech ('I'm starving!') without meaning literal starvation. In formal writing, hungry remains the safest choice. For a mildly hungry feeling, hungry is correct; for an urgent need, ravenous or famished creates a sharper image.
Common collocations
Etymology
Hungry comes from Old English hungrig, meaning 'feeling hunger,' which in turn comes from the Proto-Germanic word hungrugaz. The word has been used for physical hunger since before the 12th century. The figurative sense ('hungry for power') appeared in English by the late 1500s. The compound pattern (-hungry, as in power-hungry) became popular in the 20th century, especially in journalism and advertising.