Hungriness

[carlos]

Today I was listening to a great song by David Bowie, Wild is the Wind and one of the verses says "Satisfy this hungriness".

 

Hungriness? Is that a word? It's meaning is obvious but I had never come across it, have you? How is "hungriness" different from "hunger"?

 

 

[bagwell1987]

Seems to me to be a perverted form of the word. But we use it anyway and it's a valid word according to the dictionary. Almost like the word 'hankerin', I got a hankerin for some beans. 

Then again I could be full of beans!

[Beggar for the Spirit]

Hey Carlos,

 

This is an interesting word you are asking about.

I think I have used it a few times, but usually most people just

say "a hunger" when talking about having a strong desire for something.

 

As I researched for this word in the better dictionaries, I found something interesting.

When we look up a word in any regular dictionary, it is almost always there.

But with this word, "hungriness", more dictionaries seems to have this

word listed as either a "Derivative" or just as a "Synonym" or "Not Found"

A few older dictionaries had this word.

Here is some info I had found.

 

 

 

hungriness

 

oxforddictionaries.com

 

Derivatives

1.  noun       hungriness

 

 

 

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

 

n. 1. The state of being hungry; a need for food.   2. An intense desire.

 

 

 

WordNet Dictionary

 

Noun 1. hungriness - a physiological need for food; the consequence of foood deprivation

Synonyms: hunger

 

 

 

Cambridge Dictionary

 

Not found Search suggestions for hungriness

We have these words with similar spellings or pronunciations:

• hungriest
• hungrier

Edited December 31, 2014 by Beggar for the Spirit

[Brenda]

I think it could be used in a poetic sense.  Such as "the hungriness of my soul".  Or something like that.

[carlos]

Seems to me to be a perverted form of the word. But we use it anyway and it's a valid word according to the dictionary. Almost like the word 'hankerin', I got a hankerin for some beans. 

Then again I could be full of beans!

 

Thank you, Cheryl. I didn't know that word "hankering". I will try to use it so that I don't forget it.

 

 

I think it could be used in a poetic sense.  Such as "the hungriness of my soul".  Or something like that.

 

Yes, I think that's it. When writing poetry we tend to use words that are not everyday use.

 

 

 

As I researched for this word in the better dictionaries, I found something interesting.

When we look up a word in any regular dictionary, it is almost always there.

But with this word, "hungriness", more dictionaries seems to have this

word listed as either a "Derivative" or just as a "Synonym" or "Not Found"

A few older dictionaries had this word.

Thank you Neil for the research. I hadn't even looked up the word in the dictionary because its meaning is evident, but the fact that it's only included in older dictionaries is revealing.

 

I suppose that from a philosophical viewpoint there is a difference between "hunger" and "the state of being hungry". I suppose you could write "people revolted due to their constant hungriness", although you could use "hunger" there too. It seems both words are interchangeable, only hungriness is seldom used. It's clear Mr. Bowie (or whoever whote those lyrics) was just being poetic. Quite expected from someone who is wild as the wind.

[bagwell1987]

Carlos, I think hankerin' is slang. You hear it in old western movies. My granddad used to use it, but then he was old time dairyman.