What does famish mean?
Famish is a verb meaning to suffer extreme hunger or starvation, or, used transitively, to reduce someone else to such a state. Its most familiar modern descendant is the adjective 'famished', a vivid and slightly theatrical way of declaring oneself desperately hungry — common at the dinner table even when no real deprivation is involved. The word carries dramatic weight: in literature and historical writing, 'famished' often signals genuine suffering, as in accounts of sieges, shipwrecks, and famines. It should not be confused with 'famine', the noun describing a large-scale food shortage; famish concerns the individual experience of hunger, famine its societal cause. Derived from the same root as famine — ultimately Latin fames, 'hunger' — the word has been part of English since the Middle Ages. Though the bare verb now sounds somewhat archaic, its adjectival form keeps it firmly alive in everyday speech.
verbTo famish is to suffer extreme hunger or starvation; transitively, it can mean to reduce someone to this state. In modern usage the adjective form 'famished' meaning 'extremely hungry' is far more common than the verb itself.
- (intransitive) To suffer or die from extreme hunger or starvation.
- (transitive) To cause to suffer extreme hunger; to deprive of food.
- (adjective, as 'famished') Extremely hungry.
"After hiking all day without provisions, we returned to camp utterly famished."
"The castaways grew so famished that they were barely able to stand."
"'Skip lunch and you'll be absolutely famished by dinnertime,' she warned."
You've almost certainly said 'I'm famished' — a phrase whose roots reach back to Latin fames, the very word for starvation itself.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of famish
Famish originated in Middle English, adapted from Old French material tied to famine and ultimately from Latin fames, meaning hunger. It entered English during the medieval period and long served as the standard verb for starving or dying of hunger, appearing frequently in older literature and historical chronicles. Over time the verb itself faded into literary use, while its participle, 'famished', became the surviving everyday form for expressing intense hunger.
Related word forms
How famish is actually used
The verb 'to famish' is now somewhat old-fashioned and literary, appearing more often in historical or formal prose than everyday speech. The participial adjective 'famished', however, remains lively and common as a vivid, slightly hyperbolic way of saying one is very hungry — often with a playful or dramatic connotation rather than a literal one.
Easily confused with famish
Famine is a noun denoting a widespread shortage of food affecting a population, while famish describes an individual experiencing or being reduced to severe hunger.