shortage vs famine

shortage and famine both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
shortage	Yes	No	No	No
famine	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, shortage and famine are synonyms defined as:

Other synonyms of shortage include dearth.

shortage (noun)	famine (noun)
the property of being an amount by which something is less than expected or required	a severe shortage of food (as through crop failure) resulting in violent hunger and starvation and death
an acute insufficiency	an acute insufficiency