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Famine vs Drought - What's the difference?

famine | drought |

As nouns the difference between famine and drought

is that famine is extreme shortage of food in a region while drought is a period of below average rainfall, longer and more severe than a dry spell.

As a proper noun Famine

is the personification of famine, often depicted riding a black horse.

famine

English

Noun

(wikipedia famine)
  • (uncountable) extreme shortage of food in a region
  • * 1971 , Central Institute of Research & Training in Public Cooperation
    • Dr. Bhatia pointed out that famine had occurred in all ages and in all societies where means of communication and transport were not developed.
  • (countable) a period of extreme shortage of food in a region
  • * 1986 , United States Congress, House Select Committee on Hunger, Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on Africa, Famine and Recovery in Africa
    • The root causes of the current famine are known: poverty, low health standards....

    drought

    English

    Alternative forms

    * drouth

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A period of below average rainfall, longer and more severe than a dry spell.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2012-01
    • , author=Donald Worster , title=A Drier and Hotter Future , volume=100, issue=1, page=70 , magazine= citation , passage=Phoenix and Lubbock are both caught in severe drought , and it is going to get much worse. We may see many such [dust] storms in the decades ahead, along with species extinctions, radical disturbance of ecosystems, and intensified social conflict over land and water. Welcome to the Anthropocene, the epoch when humans have become a major geological and climatic force.}}
  • (by extension, informal) A longer than expected term without success, particularly in sport.