הונגעריק
hungerik
The Yiddish word for hungry is הונגעריק (hungerik).
The adjective הונגעריק is used to describe someone or something that is affected by hunger or desirous of food.
Meaning: affected by hunger, desirous of food (adj)
How does it change in a sentence?
As an adjective, the word takes different endings to agree with the gender and number of the noun it modifies, such as the feminine/plural form הונגעריקע. The adjective takes the masculine ending הונגעריקער when modifying a masculine noun. To say 'I am hungry', you use the verb 'זײַן' (to be) in the first person singular, resulting in איך בין הונגעריק.
How do you pronounce it?
hungerik
Did you know?
- While הונגעריק is the standard word for 'hungry', Yiddish speakers often use the phrase איך האב הונגער meaning 'I have hunger' instead of 'I am hungry'.
- Yiddish has a distinct cultural expression for being 'starving' that goes beyond the literal meaning of הונגעריק, often involving colorful hyperbole about eating a horse.
- In Yiddish, the root הונגער for 'hunger' is a cognate of the English word 'hunger' and the German 'Hunger', reflecting the shared Germanic origins of these terms.
Examples in context
- איך האב געזאגט טאם׳ן אז איך בין נישט הונגעריק.I told Tom that I wasn't hungry.This sentence shows how to use the form הונגעריק to state that you are not hungry.Tatoeba #4743285 by negativeclock, translation #2952515 by CK
- די קאַץ איז הונגעריק.The cat is hungry.This sentence uses the form הונגעריק to describe a cat.Tatoeba #10271470 by shekitten, translation #9185987 by CK
- ער איז נישט הונגעריק?Isn't he hungry?This sentence uses the form הונגעריק in a question.Tatoeba #13471280 by rul, translation #13465578 by rul
- 25 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Menachem and Chana are deciding what to do for lunch.
- מנחם Menahemביסטו שוין הונגעריק, חנה?Bistu shoyn hungerik, Chana?Are you hungry already, Chana?
- חנה Chanaיאָ, איך בין זייער הונגעריק.Yo, ikh bin zeyer hungerik.Yes, I am very hungry.
- מנחם Menahemלאָמיר גיין עסן עפּעס.Lomir geyn esn epes.Let's go eat something.
- חנה Chanaגוטע געדאַנק, מנחם!Gute gedank, Menachem!Good idea, Menachem!
Sources
- Wiktionary, “hungry” translations and entries הונגעריק, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries הונגעריק, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
