drought

UK: /ˈdraʊt/ US: /draʊt/ ,(drout)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

drought /draʊt/   n. 

1. Meteorology a long period of dry weather:
   [countable] The drought lasted for months.
2. an extended shortage of water:
   [uncountable] Drought had struck East Africa.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

drought  (drout), n. 

1. Meteorology a period of dry weather, esp. a long one that is injurious to crops.
2. an extended shortage:
   a drought of good writing.
3. [Archaic.] thirst.

Also, drouth  (drouth). 

• bef. 1000; Middle English; Old English drūgath, equivalent. to drūg- (base of drȳge dry) + -ath -th¹; cognate with Dutch droogte dryness

Synonyms

• 2. scarcity, lack, want, dearth, paucity, famine.

Pronunciation

Drought and drouth, nouns derived from the adjective dry plus a suffix, are spellings that represent two phonetic developments of the same Old English word, and are pronounced (drout) and (drouth) respectively. The latter pronunciation, therefore, is not a mispronunciation of drought. The now unproductive suffix -th ¹ and its alternate form -t were formerly used to derive nouns from adjectives or verbs, resulting in such pairs as drouth—drought from dry and highth—height (the former now obsolete) from high.
In American English, drought with the pronunciation (drout) is common everywhere in educated speech, and is the usual printed form.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

drought / draʊt/ noun

1. a prolonged period of scanty rainfall
2. a prolonged shortage
3. an archaic or dialect word for thirst

Etymology: Old English drūgoth; related to Dutch droogte; see dry

ˈdroughty adjective