# drought

> English word · Noun · IPA /dɹaʊt/ · frequency rank #8,276

## Definitions
1. A period of unusually low rainfall, longer and more severe than a dry spell.
2. A longer than expected term without success, particularly in sport.
3. dryness, aridness, dry heat

## Etymology
From Middle English droughte, droghte, drouȝte, from Old English drūgaþ. Cognate with Dutch droogte, Low German Dröögde. By surface analysis, dry + -t (abstract nominal suffix).

## Easily confused with
- **dough** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dough-vs-drought)
- **draught** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/draught-vs-drought)
- **doughty** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/doughty-vs-drought)

## Common misspellings (11)
`ddrought`, `dorught`, `droguht`, `drougght`, `droughht`, `droughtt`, `drougth`, `drouhgt`, `drrought`, `druoght`, `rdought`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/drought