thirsty

comparative thirstier · superlative thirstiest · alternative obsolete thursty

1. Needing to drink water or any liquid that can supply water.

   After all that work in the hot sun, I am really thirsty.

   2 more examples

   Diggle Station lies high up in the Pennine Chain, subject to extreme low temperatures. With this and heavy snowfall in the winter months, Diggle bids fair to compete with the Scottish lines under similar weather conditions, and the provision of unfrozen water in the higher ambient temperature of the tunnel must be a boon to harassed engine drivers whose thirsty steeds run short of water up the gruelling 1 in 125 seven-mile climb from Stalybridge.

   1959 February 28, “Letters to the Editor: Diggle Water Troughs”, in Railway Magazine, page 135

   Then Egil said, ‘That happens if you eat dulse, it makes you even thirstier.’

   1997, “Egil's Saga”, in Bernard Scudder, transl., The Sagas of Icelanders, Penguin, published 2001, page 151

2. euphemisticCraving alcohol; especially, experiencing some alcohol withdrawal.

   After all that work on a stupidly maintained spreadsheet, I am really thirsty.

   1 more example

   Q: What's with John today? He seems off his game. A: He's pretty thirsty, I think.

3. informaluncommonCausing thirst; giving one a need to drink.

   Marching is thirsty work.

   2 more examples

   I had for dinner, or rather supper, a chicken done up some way with red pepper, which was very good but thirsty.

   1897, Bram Stoker, Dracula

   Invest in a water bottle: cycling can be thirsty work.

   2004, Charlotte Williamson, Vehicle maintenance for women, →ISBN

4. figurativelyCraving something immaterial.

   thirsty for knowledge

   2 more examples

   thirsty for attention

   After the president left office, the nation was thirsty for change.

   Synonyms: athirst

   1. figurativelyslangCraving or desiring sex.

      This is the third time that girl brought up her crush. She must really be thirsty for him.

      2 more examples

      The relentless thrill of “Do You Want to Come Over?” is not the only time Britney Spears’s new album Glory makes you feel like you’re being hit on via thirsty text message.

      2016 August 26, Spencer Kornhaber, “Britney Spears Finds Grace in the Hook-Up on 'Glory'”, in The Atlantic

      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.

      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

      Synonyms: athirst, horny

plural thirsties · alternative obsolete thursty

1. countableplural normallyuncountableOne who is thirsty (for a drink, sex, alcohol, etc.).

   You are like a stream of water to a thirsty in a desert.

   2018, Pijush Kanti Mukherjee, CoMa Chose Life

   4 more examples

   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.

   1919, The Mines Magazine, page 99

   A thirsty looking for a draught of water finds a welcome sea of water.

   2004, Sura College of Competition, Junior Knowledge Book, page 107

   Another way to limit the use of thirsty plants […] Here small beds of flowers, azaleas, and other "thirsties" could be grown satisfactorily.

   1990, George Waters, The Pacific Horticulture Book of Western Gardening, David R Godine Pub, page 18

   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 .

   2019, Alessia Ferrari Dream, A medieval Saga

2. countableuncountableThirst.

   There is a thirsty that is not for the belly. There is a thirsty for land that belong to we."

   1948, Esther Warner, New Song in a Strange Land, page 36

   2 more examples

   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!

   2012, Joyce Bethwane, You Are Not Your Own, page 58

   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.

   2017, Adam Roberts, The Real-Town Murders