deserved
de·served/dɪˈzɝvd/adjective, verb
deserved is spelled D-E-S-E-R-V-E-D: 8 letters and 2 syllables (de·served). It appears 14 times per million words in written English, the 5,679th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, deserved means “Fair; merited” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in deserved?
| Letters | 8: D-E-S-E-R-V-E-D |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: de·served |
| In writing | 14 times per million words; the 5,679th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is deserved?
Deserved appears 14 times per million words in written English, the 5,679th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce deserved?
- UK /dɪˈzɜːvd/
- US /dɪˈzɝvd/
Deserved has 2 syllables, split de·served in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-deserved.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with deserved?
4 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as deserved from its last stressed vowel (/ɜɹvd/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of deserved
- more deserved comparative
- most deserved superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does deserved mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Fair; merited.
verb
- 1
simple past and past participle of deserve
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Deserved in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense Translations:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| Spanish | merecido |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.