Usage patterns 飢う えを 満み たす to satisfy one's hunger
He satisfied his hunger with a single piece of bread.
飢う えをしのぐ to endure or stave off hunger
They ate wild plants to stave off starvation.
飢う えで 死し ぬ to die of starvation
Many people died of starvation.
〈 事こと 〉 への 飢う え a hunger or craving for something (figurative)
She had a hunger for knowledge.
Expressions 飢う えに 苦くる しむ suffer from hunger; be tormented by hunger Related words 空腹 refers to the physical sensation of an empty stomach, while 飢え implies a more prolonged or serious lack of food, or can be used metaphorically.
飢餓 is a formal, often clinical or statistical term for starvation, while 飢え is the everyday word for the same state.
飢饉 describes a large-scale famine affecting many people, whereas 飢え is the individual experience of being hungry or starving.
飢え literally means hunger and is often paired with 渇き (as in 飢えと渇き ) to express a deep metaphorical longing.
Word family starve; be famished; be hungry · be starved of; be thirsty for; be hungry for
starvation; starving to death
starve and freeze to death
Written forms 飢う え Usage 95%
Standard kanji spelling for hunger/starvation. News and frequency priority.
餓う え Usage 5%
Variant kanji spelling; less common than 飢え .
饑う え
rarely-used kanji form
Rarely used kanji form.
Etymology Derived from the verb 飢える (うえる , 'to starve'), with the 連用形 (continuative form) used as a noun. The kanji 飢 is associated with hunger and starvation.
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