Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Needing nourishment; hungry: The word "empty-bellied" describes the physical state of having an empty stomach and, by extension, a strong desire or need for food. It is a descriptive, often literary or emphatic, synonym for "hungry."

Usage

• As a descriptive adjective: It is typically used before a noun to describe a person or animal.
  • The empty-bellied child cried for food.
  • We fed the empty-bellied stray dogs.

Examples

• The charity's mission is to feed empty-bellied families in the impoverished region.
• After the long hike with no snacks, we were completely empty-bellied.
• The documentary showed the plight of empty-bellied refugees.

Advanced Usage

• The term is often used for rhetorical or emotional effect to evoke a stronger sense of need or poverty than the more common word "hungry."
  • The writer described the empty-bellied soldiers marching through the winter.
• It can be used in a hyphenated form ("empty-bellied") or, less commonly, as an open compound ("empty bellied").

Variants and Related Words

• Empty-bellied is itself a compound adjective. Related concepts include:
  • Hungry (adj.): The standard, more common term for needing or wanting food.
  • Famished (adj.): Extremely hungry.
  • Starving (adj.): Suffering or dying from hunger; also used informally to mean very hungry.
  • Ravenous (adj.): Very hungry; eager for food.

Synonyms

• Hungry
• Famished
• Starving
• Ravenous
• Peckish (informal, for slightly hungry)

Antonyms

• Full
• Satiated
• Stuffed
• Satisfied

Adjective

1. needing nourishment
   • after skipped lunch the men were empty by suppertime
   • empty-bellied children