Wiktionary

thirsty

English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Middle English thirsti, from Old English þurstiġ, from Proto-Germanic *þurstugaz. Equivalent to thirst +‎ -y. Cognate with Dutch dorstig, German durstig.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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thirsty (comparative thirstier, superlative thirstiest)

  2. Needing to drink water or any liquid that can supply water.
    After all that work in the hot sun, I am really thirsty.
    • 1997, “Egil's Saga”, in Bernard Scudder, transl., The Sagas of Icelanders, Penguin, published 2001, page 151:
      Then Egil said, ‘That happens if you eat dulse, it makes you even thirstier.’
  4. (euphemistic) Craving alcohol; especially, experiencing some alcohol withdrawal.
    After all that work on a stupidly maintained spreadsheet, I am really thirsty.
    Q: What's with John today? He seems off his game. A: He's pretty thirsty, I think.
  5. (informal, uncommon) Causing thirst; giving one a need to drink.
    Marching is thirsty work.
    • 1897, Bram Stoker, Dracula:
      I had for dinner, or rather supper, a chicken done up some way with red pepper, which was very good but thirsty.
    • 2004, Charlotte Williamson, Vehicle maintenance for women, →ISBN:
      Invest in a water bottle: cycling can be thirsty work.
  7. (figurative) Craving something immaterial.
    thirsty for knowledge
    thirsty for attention
    After the president left office, the nation was thirsty for change.
    2. (slang, figurative) Craving or desiring sex.
      This is the third time that girl brought up her crush. She must really be thirsty for him.
      • 2017 April 4, Carina Chocano, “It’s Easy to Be Called ‘Thirsty’ on Social Media. What About on Capitol Hill?”, in The New York Times Magazine‎[1]:
        Nin was reviled throughout her life and afterward for writing candidly about her desires — something few women are allowed to do without being branded an open wound — and was only recently divested of her status as one of the thirstiest women of the 20th century.

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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See also

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Noun

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thirsty (countable and uncountable, plural thirsties)

  1. (usually in the plural) One who is thirsty (for a drink, sex, alcohol, etc.).
    • 1919, The Mines Magazine, page 99:
      The most interesting thing to the "chicken fanciers"—and the thirsty also—was an ice cream parlor in Morrison. Before we left […] the town ran short on all brands of beer (near, Root, etc.), and the thirsties of the crowd were reduced to the tamer pastime of eating oranges and cracking peanuts.
    • 2004, Sura College of Competition, Junior Knowledge Book, page 107:
      A thirsty looking for a draught of water finds a welcome sea of water.
    • 1990, George Waters, The Pacific Horticulture Book of Western Gardening, David R Godine Pub, page 18:
      Another way to limit the use of thirsty plants […] Here small beds of flowers, azaleas, and other "thirsties" could be grown satisfactorily.
    • 2018, Pijush Kanti Mukherjee, CoMa Chose Life:
      You are like a stream of water to a thirsty in a desert.
    • 2019, Alessia Ferrari Dream, A medieval Saga:
      Young Duchess watched the two accomplices, she seemed a thirsty who tastes clear and fresh water after having longed for it: for a moment she preserves an expression that expresses disbelief, as if she had discovered a completely new .
  2. Thirst.
    • 1948, Esther Warner, New Song in a Strange Land, page 36:
      There is a thirsty that is not for the belly. There is a thirsty for land that belong to we."
    • 2012, Joyce Bethwane, You Are Not Your Own, page 58:
      The captain would have to spend all his fortune trying to quench the Dark tenant's thirsty. A thirsty that has spanned thousands of years and never been quenched. Provide for his lusts!
    • 2017, Adam Roberts, The Real-Town Murders:
      Afterwards Marguerite declared herself super-hungry, and also thirsty. 'Not super-thirsty, Regular thirsty. Let's say a thirsty that has worked out, learned martial arts and designed its own bat-suit. But definitely super-hunggry.

Anagrams

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