Which to use
“startled” and “starved” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,473
- “startled” frequency rank
- #15,706
- “starved” frequency rank
- 35179
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | startled | starved |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Surprised and slightly frightened. | Approaching starvation, emaciated and malnourished. |
Letter map: startled vs starved
Shared letters muted; letters that set startled and starved apart highlighted. Shared run: 6. startled runs 8 letters (CCVCCCVC) against starved's 7 (CCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Corpus notes: startled and starved
startled 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 35179, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
startled is recorded at frequency rank #19,473, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈstɑɹt.l̩d/. 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 35179, this pair ranks #314,233 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of startled vs starved
Shared letters: aderst. Private to "startled": l. Private to "starved": v.
"startled" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCCVC · "starved" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "startled" and "starved" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "startled" or "starved"?
After this comparison
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "startled" and "starved".
- Full dictionary entry for "startled" 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 #314,233 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "startled" and "starved" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stapled vs startled". 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 #314,233 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.