droughts

noun

variants also drouths
plural of drought
as in shortages
a falling short of an essential or desirable amount or number there's been a drought of good movies this year

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of droughts These large waves of hot air can cause high temperatures, droughts and wildfires. — Eric Lyons, CBS News, 29 June 2026 More than half of Oregon counties have already declared droughts. — Emily Cureton Cook, ProPublica, 26 June 2026 The beef industry has been dealing with the smallest cattle herd in 75 years due to prolonged droughts. — Ramishah Maruf, CNN Money, 7 July 2026 Width, density and spacing in cross sections of the tree rings document floods, droughts and hurricane landfalls. — Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA Today, 28 June 2026 The film’s core narrative was that climate change is driving ever-worsening disasters, such as floods, droughts, storms and wildfires. — Bjorn Lomborg, The Orlando Sentinel, 26 June 2026 The Valkyries’ offensive droughts this season have largely come in the third quarter, and the Liberty have the talent to put up points in a hurry. — Nathan Canilao, Mercury News, 29 June 2026 During prolonged droughts lasting more than four weeks, even dormant grasses require some supplemental irrigation to survive. — Kim Toscano, Southern Living, 29 June 2026 Boise leaders moved this week to regulate powerful electric motorcycles and give the mayor authority to restrict lawn watering during droughts. — Idaho Statesman, 3 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for droughts
  1. shortages
  2. lacks
Noun
  • Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images Europe’s defense industry remains fragmented and constrained by supply chains, bureaucracy, labor shortages and years of underinvestment.
    — Elsa Ohlen, CNBC, 6 July 2026
  • Citing Cuban government figures, the United Nations reported that around 100,000 patients are waiting for surgeries on the island due to the electricity cuts and shortages of medical supplies and drugs.
    — Nora Gámez Torres, Miami Herald, 6 July 2026
Definition of shortages
Noun
  • In terms of athletic forwards with size, this is a body type that the Spurs’ roster lacks in numbers.
    — John Hollinger, New York Times, 25 June 2026
  • Nothing beats a big package or a pipe to compensate for decorations, makeup, and other lacks.
    — Joyce Mansour, Harpers Magazine, 23 June 2026
Definition of lacks

Browse Nearby Words

drought
droughts
droughty
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Droughts.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/droughts. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on droughts

Nglish: Translation of droughts for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All