drought

drought — noun

1. a long period, from several weeks to years, during which an area receives far le

1.名詞B1
釋義

a long period, from several weeks to years, during which an area receives far less rain than normal, often causing water shortages and serious damage to farming, wildlife, and daily life.

例句

Dahlia's village in Ethiopia suffered through a severe drought that dried up the only river.

collocation: severe drought

The three-year drought forced the government to ban all outdoor watering.

collocation: [number]-year drought

同義詞
  • dry spell

    shorter and less severe than a drought; typically lasting days to a few weeks

  • dry period

    neutral, less technical term for any stretch of little rain

  • water shortage

    focuses on the result (not enough water) rather than the cause (lack of rain)

反義詞
  • flood

    the opposite extreme — an excess of water rather than a deficit

  • wet season

    the period of the year when rainfall is abundant

文法句型

drought / a drought / droughts

用法筆記

Drought is both countable and uncountable. Use 'a drought' for a specific event and 'drought' as a general condition. Often modified by adjectives indicating severity (severe, extreme) or duration (prolonged, three-year).

常見錯誤

❌It hasn't rained for a week — what a drought!
✅It hasn't rained for a week
💡what a dry spell!' — Meteorologists distinguish a 'dry spell' (days to a couple of weeks) from a 'drought' (weeks to years).

2. a long period during which there is not enough of something that people need or

2.名詞B2
釋義

a long period during which there is not enough of something that people need or want, such as money, success, new ideas, or goals in a sport.

例句

The local theater suffered a funding drought after the city cut its budget.

collocation: funding drought

After a two-year goal drought, Ignacio finally scored in the championship final.

collocation: goal drought

同義詞
  • shortage

    more general and less dramatic than drought; does not imply a long period

  • dearth

    formal synonym for a severe lack of something; less common in everyday speech

  • dry spell

    used for a temporary lack of success or luck, often in sports or personal achievement

反義詞
  • surplus

    the opposite — more than enough of something

  • glut

    an excessive supply, often used in economic contexts

文法句型

a [noun] drought

用法筆記

In this metaphorical sense, drought is always countable and almost always appears in the pattern 'a [domain] drought' where the first noun names the thing in short supply. Common in sports journalism (goal drought, scoring drought), finance (funding drought), and the arts (creative drought).

常見錯誤

❌We had a water drought last summer.
✅We had a water shortage last summer.
💡'water drought' is redundant; drought already implies a shortage of water. Use 'water shortage' for emphasis on the resource itself.