饥

飢/饑
jī
几 + 饣

Definitions

jī (adjective) hungry
jī (noun) hunger; famine

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. 饣 represents the meaning and 几 represents the sound. Simplified form of 飢.

Semantic: 饣 Phonetic: 几

About

The character 饥, combining the traditional forms 飢 and 饑, is a phono-semantic compound. Its left-side semantic radical 饣, derived from 食 (shí, food), ties the character to sustenance. The right-side component 几 (jī) provides the pronunciation, replacing the more complex 幾. At its core, the character expresses the physiological need for food, meaning hunger or starvation. Historically, the traditional forms distinguished between personal hunger (飢) and widespread famine (饑). The simplified character 饥 merges these related ideas, covering both individual starvation and large-scale food scarcity within a single, unified form.

Example Sentences Hide

我饿了，有点饥饿。

Wǒ è le, yǒudiǎn jī'è.

I'm hungry, feeling a bit hungry.

长时间的饥饿对健康有害。

Cháng shíjiān de jī'è duì jiànkāng yǒu hài.

Prolonged hunger is harmful to health.

战争导致那个国家发生饥荒。

Zhànzhēng dǎozhì nàgè guójiā fāshēng jīhuāng.

The war caused a famine in that country.

那场旱灾使许多人处于饥寒交迫之中。

Nà chǎng hànzāi shǐ xǔduō rén chǔyú jī hán jiāo pò zhī zhōng.

That drought left many people suffering from hunger and cold.

饥不择食的时候，人们什么都吃。

Jī bù zé shí de shíhou, rénmen shénme dōu chī.

When one is starving, one will eat anything.

我们必须关注全球的饥饿与贫困问题。

Wǒmen bìxū guānzhù quánqiú de jī'è yǔ pínkùn wèntí.

We must pay attention to global issues of hunger and poverty.

饥肠辘辘的他赶紧吃了一碗面。

Jīcháng lùlù de tā gǎnjǐn chīle yī wǎn miàn.

His stomach growling with hunger, he quickly ate a bowl of noodles.

历史上，严重的饥馑往往引发社会动荡。

Lìshǐ shàng, yánzhòng de jījǐn wǎngwǎng yǐnfā shèhuì dòngdàng.

Historically, severe famine often leads to social unrest.

Related Characters

Component: 几

机 几 风 亮 凡 虎 沿 凭 凯 凤 朵 肌 玑 咒

Component: 饣

饭 馆 饮 饰 饿 饲 饱 饶 饼 蚀 馈 饷 饵 馒

Example Words

饥渴 饥饿 充饥 如饥似渴 饥不择食 饥荒 忍饥挨饿 饥肠辘辘