rav ‧ e ‧ nous /ˈræv ə nəs/ BrE AmE adjective
[ Date: 1400-1500 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: ravineux , from Latin rapere ; ⇨ ↑ rape 1 ]
very hungry ⇨ starving :
I’m absolutely ravenous.
a ravenous appetite
—ravenously adverb :
I was ravenously hungry.
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THESAURUS
■ wanting to eat
▪ hungry wanting to eat something:
We were really hungry after our long walk.
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It’s hard work cooking for a bunch of hungry kids.
▪ peckish [not before noun] British English informal a little hungry:
I’m feeling a bit peckish. What’s in the fridge?
▪ starving/ravenous /ˈræv ə nəs/ ( also starved American English ) [not before noun] spoken very hungry and wanting to eat as soon as possible:
I missed lunch and I’m absolutely starving.
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Sam’s always ravenous when he gets home from school.
▪ famished very hungry. Famished is less common and sounds a little more formal than starving or ravenous :
Everyone was famished by the time they arrived.
▪ I could eat a horse! spoken used to say that you are very hungry:
‘Are you hungry?’ ‘Yeah, I could eat a horse.’
▪ appetite the desire for food that you have when you are hungry:
Exercise usually gives me an appetite.
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It’s healthy to have a good appetite.