father hunger

noun

The longing felt by (especially young) men for approbation from a father, or father figure.

First used 20th c.
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Meanings

nounfather hunger (uncountable)
  1. uncountablehuman sciencesThe longing felt by (especially young) men for approbation from a father, or father figure.First known use 20th c.

    Bill Clinton, like many presidents, may have had what men's movement activist Robert Bly has called “father hunger.”

    2017, David Friend, The Naughty Nineties, Twelve Books
    2 more examples

    Father hunger appears to be a crucial motivational variable in matters as diverse as caretaking, sexual orientation, moral development, and achievement level.

    1990, Reuben Fine, The History of Psychoanalysis, expanded edition, page 630

    Father hunger is the deep, but often unconscious, longing young men, and even older men, have for affirmation from male authority figures.

    2006, Christopher P. Mason, Crossing into Manhood, page 118
Cite this entry
APA

father hunger. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/father%20hunger

MLA

“father hunger.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/father%20hunger. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “father hunger,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/father%20hunger.

Source: father hunger on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.