What does privation mean?
Word: Privation
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Privation means a state of hardship in which a person lacks food, warmth or other basic things needed for life.
Synonyms: hardship, poverty, want
Antonyms: comfort, luxury
How do you spell privation?
Syllables: pri - va - tion
Tricky part: It starts with pri, not pre (prevation), because it comes from the same root as private.
Watch out for: prevation, privetion, privaition
Memory tip: Privation and private open with the same five letters: priva.
Privation in a sentence
Example 1: The mountaineers faced weeks of cold and privation on the long climb.
Example 2: Grandfather still remembers the privation of his childhood, when a pair of shoes was a luxury.
Example 3: The explorer's diary describes the privation of the last weeks on the ice.
Fun Fact
Privation and deprivation are close relatives: deprivation is the act of taking something away, while privation is the state of going without.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word privation as used in the sentence:
The village families lived through a year of privation before the new canal brought water to their fields.
a) need
b) plenty
c) scarcity
d) shortage
Show answer
b) plenty. Privation means going without; the canal brought plenty, the very opposite.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the letters to find the word that fits the sentence:
The stranded sailors suffered great tanvirpoi on the bare rocky island.
a) aviation
b) provision
c) privation
d) partition
Show answer
c) privation. Sailors stranded on bare rock go without food and warmth, which is privation; aviation is two letters short, and provision and partition bring an s or a second t.
Spell-o-Spell
Only one of these words is spelt wrongly. Choose its meaning:
1. sheltar 2. hunger 3. privation 4. poverty
a) the state of being very poor
b) a place that keeps you safe from bad weather
c) a lack of the basic things needed for life
d) the feeling of needing food
Show answer
b) a place that keeps you safe from bad weather. Shelter ends in er, like water and winter; ar at its end is the slip.
Word Cookie
Fill in the missing letters to complete the word:
priva_i_n
a) t, o
b) s, o
c) t, e
d) c, a
Show answer
a) t, o. The last four letters are the same as in motion and station.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A family living in privation has ____.
a) a large house and garden
b) too little food and comfort
c) plenty of money to spare
d) many servants and cars
Show answer
b) too little food and comfort
2. Which would be a privation for a camper lost in a forest?
a) having a warm sleeping bag
b) having a full tin of biscuits
c) having no clean water
d) having a bright campfire
Show answer
c) having no clean water
