Drought: A Dry Spell Long Enough to Be Given a Name
A drought is a shortage of water that lasts. The word is also used for any long absence of something you were waiting for, including goals.
A drought is a long period with too little water: not a hot week, but a shortage that empties reservoirs and cracks fields. Definitions are local, not global β a rainfall that would be a drought in England is an ordinary year in Arizona, so meteorologists define drought against what a place normally gets.
- A long period of abnormally low rainfall. *The worst drought in forty years.*
- A shortage of water supply. *Drought restrictions on hosepipes.*
- A long absence of something wanted. *A goal drought.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | drought | A severe drought. |
| Plural | droughts | Repeated droughts. |
| Adjective | drought-stricken | Drought-stricken farms. |
| Adjective | drought-resistant | Drought-resistant crops. |
| Related | dry | A dry season. |
How it is used in a sentence
- The drought has lasted three summers.Droughts are measured in seasons, not days.
- Drought-resistant varieties were planted instead.A common compound in farming.
- The striker ended a nine-match goal drought.The sporting use, always with a number attached.
Kinds of drought
- Meteorological β rainfall below the local normal
- Agricultural β not enough soil moisture for crops
- Hydrological β rivers, lakes and groundwater run low
- Socio-economic β demand for water outruns supply
- Flash drought β a rapid one, driven by heat as much as by missing rain
From Old English *drΕ«gath*, dryness, formed from the same root as *dry*. The *-ght* spelling is a later habit that English applied to several words; the pronunciation is simply *drowt*, rhyming with *out*, though the dialect form *drouth* survives in Scotland and in poetry.
How is drought pronounced?
It rhymes with out: drowt. The spelling misleads, because -ough has half a dozen sounds in English.
How long must a dry spell last to be a drought?
There is no single answer. Each country sets its own threshold against normal rainfall, and some define it by reservoir levels instead.