sharedvsstarvedConfusable pair

Which to use

“shared” and “starved” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#2,128
“shared” frequency rank
#15,706
“starved” frequency rank
17834
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature shared starved
Definition Used by multiple entities or for multiple purposes or in multiple ways. Approaching starvation, emaciated and malnourished.

Letter map: shared vs starved

Shared letters muted; letters that set shared and starved apart highlighted. Shared run: 5.

6 ch
shared
7 ch
starved

Pair insight - shared / starved

shared and starved are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17834, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

shared is recorded at frequency rank #2,128, classified as anadj, pronounced /ʃɛːd/. starved is at rank #15,706, tagged as anadj.

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 17834, this pair ranks #448,828 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of shared vs starved

Shared letters: aders. Private to "shared": h. Private to "starved": tv.

"shared" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "starved" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sharedhsared · sahred · shaerd · sharde · sharedd · sharred · shhared · shraed
  • starvedsatrved · sstarved · starevd · starrved · starvde · starvedd · starvved · stavred

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "shared" and "starved" be used interchangeably?
No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "shared" vs "starved" - which ranks higher?
"shared" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,128 in our English list, against #15,706 for "starved". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pair "shared" vs "starved" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "shared" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "starved" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #448,828 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "shared" and "starved" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stapled vs starved". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #448,828 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list