饥饿
jī è · HSK 7
hunger
🍽️ 饥 + 饿 = two near-synonyms for hungry, both built on the 饣 (food) radical
Doubling 饥 (hunger, famine) with 饿 (to be hungry) intensifies the meaning toward starvation. The shared 饣 radical on the left of both characters marks anything to do with food and eating, so the whole word reads as food-related want.
饿 — food radical 饣 + 我 (wǒ)
A semantic-phonetic compound. The food radical 饣 (simplified from 食) signals the meaning 'hunger,' while 我 provides the sound. The traditional form 餓 makes the food component clearer. Originally meaning severe hunger or starvation, it now covers the everyday sense of being hungry.