thirsty

thirsty — adjective

1. feeling that you need or want to drink something, especially water — the usual p

1.adjectiveA1
Definition

feeling that you need or want to drink something, especially water — the usual physical sensation when your body lacks fluid.

Example

Ramón ran five kilometres under the hot sun, felt thirsty, and drank a whole bottle of water.

feel + thirsty + reason (physical cause)

The hiker carried extra water because she knew she would get thirsty on the trail.

get thirsty — change of state

Common collocations
  • feel thirsty
  • get thirsty
  • make someone thirsty
  • extremely thirsty
  • thirsty travellers
  • thirsty crowd
  • thirsty workers
Synonyms
  • dehydrated

    more clinical or serious; refers to a medical lack of water in the body

  • parched

    more dramatic or old-fashioned for physical thirst ('I'm parched!')

  • dry

    describes the feeling in the mouth rather than the whole-body need

Antonyms

Common Mistakes

I am very thirsty water.
I am very thirsty for water.' or ✅ 'I am very thirsty.
thirsty alone is enough; add 'for + noun' only when you want to specify the drink.

2. having an extremely strong and eager desire for something abstract such as power

2.adjectiveB2
Definition

having an extremely strong and eager desire for something abstract such as power, knowledge, wealth, or revenge — wanting it as intensely as a thirsty person wants water.

Example

The young dictator was thirsty for power and imprisoned anyone who questioned his authority.

thirsty for + power

Xiu was thirsty for knowledge and spent every evening reading scientific journals.

thirsty for + knowledge

Common collocations
  • thirsty for power
  • thirsty for knowledge
  • thirsty for revenge
  • thirsty for fame
  • thirsty for wealth
  • thirsty for control
  • thirsty for glory
Synonyms
  • eager

    less intense; can be positive or neutral without the desperate edge

  • hungry for

    similar intensity but a different metaphor ('hungry for power')

  • desperate for

    stronger and more urgent, implying near-panic

  • avid

    formal; suggests enthusiastic interest rather than desperate need

Antonyms

Grammar Patterns

thirsty for + [abstract noun: power / knowledge / wealth / fame / revenge]

Usage Note

Almost always followed by the preposition 'for' and an abstract noun (power, knowledge, fame, revenge, wealth, control). Unlike sense 1, this sense is rarely used without 'for + noun'.

Common Mistakes

He is thirsty to learn.
He is thirsty for knowledge.
thirsty takes 'for + noun', not 'to + infinitive'.
She is thirsty for water' (when meaning sense 1).
She is thirsty.
with a concrete drink, use the literal sense 1 instead.

3. wanting attention, approval, or admiration so strongly that one's behaviour appe

3.adjectiveB2
Definition

wanting attention, approval, or admiration so strongly that one's behaviour appears obvious or desperate — often used about social-media posts that seem designed to attract likes, comments, or compliments.

Example

Nia posted the same photo on three platforms, and her roommate joked she looked thirsty for likes.

look thirsty — appearance of desperation

The actor's publicist warned that too many shirtless selfies made him seem thirsty for attention.

Common collocations
  • look thirsty
  • seem thirsty
  • come across as thirsty
  • thirsty for likes
  • thirsty for attention
  • thirsty for validation
  • thirsty post
  • thirsty behaviour
Synonyms
  • desperate

    broader and stronger; can apply outside social media

  • needy

    similar negative judgement but about emotional dependence, not specifically online

  • attention-hungry

    more direct and literal; same register

Antonyms
  • low-key

    relaxed about attention; not trying hard to impress

  • modest

    not wanting to show off or draw attention to oneself

Grammar Patterns

thirsty for + [social approval noun: attention / likes / validation / followers]

Usage Note

This sense is informal and primarily used in digital/social-media contexts. It carries a negative or mocking tone — calling someone 'thirsty' implies their need for approval is painfully obvious.

Common Mistakes

He is thirsty for a promotion at work.' (in a neutral, ambitious sense)
He is eager for a promotion.
sense 3 carries a negative judgement about attention-seeking, not neutral ambition.

4. dry and cracked from having no water for a long time — used for land, soil, fiel

4.adjectiveB1
Definition

dry and cracked from having no water for a long time — used for land, soil, fields, or plants that desperately need rain or watering.

Example

After three months without rain, the thirsty farmland had cracked open under the relentless sun.

The gardener watered the thirsty plants every morning during the heatwave to stop them from wilting.

thirsty plants — living things needing water

Common collocations
  • thirsty land
  • thirsty soil
  • thirsty fields
  • thirsty plants
  • thirsty crops
  • thirsty earth
Synonyms
  • parched

    the closest synonym; slightly more dramatic or literary

  • arid

    describes a climate or region that is permanently dry, not temporarily

  • dry

    general and neutral; less evocative

  • dried-up

    informal; emphasises the result of water loss

Antonyms

Usage Note

Used for land, soil, fields, crops, and plants — not usually for individual small objects. More poetic or descriptive than simply saying 'dry'.

Common Mistakes

The thirsty towel soaked up the water.
The thirsty soil soaked up the rain.
thirsty in this sense only applies to land and plants, not to absorbent objects.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

All four words describe a lack of water, but at different levels and in different registers. 'Thirsty' (A1) is the everyday word for the feeling of wanting a drink — normal after exercise or a hot day. 'Dehydrated' (B2) is more medical and serious; it refers to a state where the body has lost dangerous amounts of water, often with symptoms like headache or dizziness. 'Parched' (B2) is more vivid and slightly old-fashioned: you might say 'I'm parched!' dramatically after a long walk, or use it poetically about land. 'Dry' (A2) is the most neutral and can describe a dry mouth, dry weather, or dry soil — it is broader and less intense than 'thirsty'. When describing body sensation, use 'thirsty' for the urge to drink and 'dehydrated' for the medical condition. In everyday conversation, 'I feel thirsty' is correct and natural; 'I feel dehydrated' may sound like an overreaction.

thirsty ↗dehydrated ↗parcheddry ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • thirsty crowd
  • thirsty travellers
  • thirsty fans
  • thirsty workers
  • thirsty customers

Adverbs

  • very thirsty
  • extremely thirsty
  • incredibly thirsty
  • desperately thirsty
  • genuinely thirsty

Phrases

  • hot and thirsty
  • hungry and thirsty
  • tired and thirsty

Prepositions

  • thirsty for

Etymology

Proto-GermanicOld EnglishMiddle EnglishEnglish

From Old English 'thurstig', meaning 'feeling thirst', derived from 'thurst' (thirst). The word has Germanic roots and is related to Dutch 'dorstig' and German 'durstig'. The figurative sense (desiring power, knowledge) appeared in Middle English, and the modern social-media sense emerged in the early 2010s as internet slang.