饥饿

• Pinyin: jī è
• Hanzi breakdown: 饥 = 饣+ 几 (food radical + nearly/small, a state of nearly having no food, hunger/famine); 饿 = 饣+ 我 (food radical + I/me, the personal sensation of needing food, to be hungry)

Meaning

Hungry; starving; experiencing acute lack of food. Used both as an adjective (feeling hungry/starving) and as a noun phrase (hunger, starvation) describing a state of severe food deprivation.

饥饿 is more intense and formal than 饿 (hungry) alone. It is used in contexts ranging from personal hunger to large-scale famines: 消除饥饿 (eliminate hunger), 忍受饥饿 (endure hunger/starvation), 饥饿感 (feeling of hunger), 饥饿营销 (hunger marketing — artificial scarcity to stimulate demand). The phrase 零饥饿 (Zero Hunger) is one of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. 饥寒交迫 (starving and freezing) describes extreme destitution.

Examples

1. 在那个物质极度匮乏的年代，许多家庭长期处于饥饿状态，一顿能够填饱肚子的饭食便足以让人感到莫大的满足与幸福。 In those years of extreme material scarcity, many families lived with constant hunger, and a single meal that truly filled your stomach was enough to bring immense satisfaction and happiness.
2. 联合国粮食及农业组织最新报告显示，全球仍有逾七亿人口长期遭受饥饿困扰，其中大多数集中在冲突频发、气候脆弱的发展中地区。 A recent report from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization shows that more than 700 million people worldwide still suffer from chronic hunger, with most of them in developing regions plagued by frequent conflict and climate vulnerability.
3. 极限运动员在挑战高强度耐力项目时，往往需要承受极度疲劳与饥饿的双重考验，科学合理的营养补给策略是完成挑战的重要保障。 When extreme athletes take on high-intensity endurance challenges, they often have to withstand both extreme fatigue and hunger. A scientific, well-planned nutrition strategy is crucial for completing the challenge.

Usage Guide

Context: humanitarian, history, health, politics, general

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 消除饥饿不仅要增产粮食，还要解决分配不均、贫困购买力不足和农业基础薄弱等问题。(Ending hunger requires not only increasing food production, but also solving problems such as unequal distribution, weak purchasing power among the poor, and fragile agricultural infrastructure.)
• 长期童年饥饿的人常形成囤食和安全感不足的心理模式，这些影响有时会延续终生。(People who experienced long-term childhood hunger often develop patterns of hoarding food and lacking a sense of security, and these effects can sometimes last a lifetime.)

Don't Say

• 饥饿 for casual 'I'm a bit hungry' — use 有点饿 or 肚子饿了 for feeling peckish; 饥饿 implies a more serious state of hunger or starvation, not mild appetite

Origin & History

饥 (hunger/famine) + 饿 (to be hungry) — both characters share the meaning of hunger; 饥 often refers to famine/food shortage while 饿 refers to the individual sensation of being hungry; the compound intensifies and formalises the concept

Cultural Context

Era: Ancient to Modern

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal