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GERMAN · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

schmachten.

to suffer hardship, especially severe hunger or thirst

10 characters2 syllables approx.Deutsch language

Meaning & usage

verb/ˈʃmaxtən/[ˈʃmaχ.tn̩]
  1. to suffer hardship, especially severe hunger or thirst

    weak
    Der grausame Ritter ließ die Gefangenen monatelang im Kerker schmachten.
    Erni erzählte mir, er habe bei der Wanderung in der Hitze ganz schön geschmachtet.
  2. to pine, languish

    figuratively · weak
    Die guten Freunde schmachteten nach dem Labsal eines Wortes.
    Nach dem Ausflug in die Sahara schmachtete die Reisegruppe nach Wasser.
Where this word comes from

First attested in the 17th century, from Schmacht + -en, after Middle Low German smachten. The noun and the prefixed verb verschmachten are also attested in northern Middle High German (smaht, versmahten). Ultimately derived from the adjective Proto-Germanic *smēhaz (“small, little”). Related with Ancient Greek μικρός (mikrós), Latin mica.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.