# thirsty
## English
### Alternative forms

* thursty (obsolete)

### Etymology

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

### Pronunciation

* (General American) enPR: thûrs′tē, IPA: /ˈθɝs.ti/
* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈθɜːs.ti/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)sti

### Adjective

thirsty (comparative thirstier, superlative thirstiest)
* 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.’
* (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.
* (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.
* (figurative) Craving something immaterial.
    thirsty for knowledge
    thirsty for attention
    After the president left office, the nation was thirsty for change.
** (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: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

* (needing to drink water): See Thesaurus:thirsty
* (needing to drink, craving something): athirst (archaic)
* (desiring sex): horny

#### Derived terms

* bloodthirsty
* I'm thirsty
* thirsty work
* thungry

#### Related terms

* thirst
* thirst trap

#### See also

* hungry
* I'm thirsty

### Noun

thirsty (countable and uncountable, plural thirsties)
* (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 .
* 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

* thristy, t-shirty, T-shirty