starve

/stɑːv/

//stɑːv// verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"starve" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“starve” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #14,640. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#14,640
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To die because of lack of food or of not eating.

Corpus desk

Index EN-starve · starve · English

starve · rank #14,640 · 9 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #14,640
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH starvation

Nearest frequency peer: starvation (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “starve”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “starve” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

starve vs state
67% similar
starve vs store
67% similar
starve vs Steve
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for starve
PropertyValue
Headwordstarve
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/stɑːv/
Letters6
Frequency rank#14,640
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “starve”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).starvelands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “starvation” (#14,639), “stool” (#14,641), “spouses” (#14,638). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “starve” is #14,640. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around starve (IPA /stɑːv/), averb. Corpus frequency is #14,640 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 11 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for starve, with forms such as "satrve", "sstarve", and "starev". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "state", "store", "Steve", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English sterven (“to die, perish”), from Old English steorfan (“to die, perish”), from Proto-West Germanic *sterban, from Proto-Germanic *sterbaną (“to become stiff, die”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)terp- (“to lose strength, become numb, be m… The correct English form is starve, spelled S-T-A-R-V-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    To die because of lack of food or of not eating.
  2. 2
    To suffer severely because of lack of food or of not eating.
  3. 3
    To be very hungry.
  4. 4
    To kill or attempt to kill by depriving of food.
  5. 5
    To make suffer severely by depriving of food.
  6. 6
    To force a combatant to submit or surrender by depriving of food, as in a targeted siege.
  7. 7
    To force a population center to submit or surrender by depriving of food, as in sieges in international armed conflicts.
  8. 8
    To deprive of nourishment or of some vital component.
  9. 9
    To deteriorate for want of any essential thing.
  10. 10
    To kill with cold; to (cause to) die from cold.
  11. 11
    To die; in later use especially to die slowly, waste away.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how starve appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. During the Cultural Revolution I was exiled to Xincai County in Henan Province. There, 36 percent of the people starved to death in the early 1960s.
  2. "When all of you starve to death, Shasta, don't come crying to me, that's all."

Etymology

From Middle English sterven (“to die, perish”), from Old English steorfan (“to die, perish”), from Proto-West Germanic *sterban, from Proto-Germanic *sterbaną (“to become stiff, die”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)terp- (“to lose strength, become numb, be motionless”); or from Proto-Indo-European *sterbʰ- (“to become stiff”), from *ster- (“stiff”); or a conflation of the aforementioned. Cognate with Scots stairve, sterve (“to die, perish, starve”), Saterland Frisian stjerwa (“to die”), West Frisian stjerre (“to die”), Dutch sterven (“to die”), German Low German starven (“to die”), German sterben (“to die”), Icelandic stirfinn (“peevish, froward”), Albanian shterp (“sterile, unproductive, barren land”).

This word in other languages

hambrear(Español)mourir de faim(Français)verhungern(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • satrve
  • sstarve
  • starev
  • starrve
  • starvve
  • stavre
  • strave
  • sttarve
  • tsarve

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of starve - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

satrve2sstarve1starev2starrve1starvve1stavre2strave2sttarve1
Edit distance from "starve"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "starve"?
"starve" is spelled S-T-A-R-V-E. The IPA pronunciation is /stɑːv/.
What does "starve" mean?
As a verb, "starve" means: To die because of lack of food or of not eating.
What words are commonly confused with "starve"?
"starve" is commonly confused with "state", "store", "Steve". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "starve"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "starve" is /stɑːv/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "starve"?
From Middle English sterven (“to die, perish”), from Old English steorfan (“to die, perish”), from Proto-West Germanic *sterban, from Proto-Germanic *sterbaną (“to become stiff, die”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)terp- (“to lose strength, become ... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "starve", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

socket#14,635sneaky#14,634sexism#14,632toledo#14,651

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

spouses9 variantsreigns9 variantsuphold9 variantspresses9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list