starved

adj

"starved" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“starved” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #15,706 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.

#15,706
frequency rank, English
7
letters
11
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Approaching starvation, emaciated and malnourished.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

starved vs stave
71% similar
starved vs stated
71% similar
starved vs stayed
71% similar

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

Key facts for starved
PropertyValue
Headwordstarved
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
Letters7
Frequency rank#15,706
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “starved” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). starved lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for starved is 7 letters long, classified as an adjective. Corpus data places it at rank #15,706 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for starved, with forms such as "satrved", "sstarved", and "starevd". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "stave", "stated", "stayed", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct English form is starved, spelled S-T-A-R-V-E-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    Approaching starvation, emaciated and malnourished.
  2. 2
    Deprived of nourishment or of something vital.
  3. 3
    Extremely hungry.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: satrved,sstarved,starevd,starrved,starvde,starvedd,starvved,stavred,straved,sttarved,tsarved

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of starved - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

satrved2sstarved1starevd2starrved1starvde2starvedd1starvved1stavred2
Edit distance from "starved"

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 "starved"?
"starved" is spelled S-T-A-R-V-E-D.
What does "starved" mean?
As an adjective, "starved" means: Approaching starvation, emaciated and malnourished.
What words are commonly confused with "starved"?
"starved" is commonly confused with "stave", "stated", "stayed". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
What language does "starved" come from?
"starved" is a English word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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.

Using “starved”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is S-T-A-R-V-E-D - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Don't mix it up with “stave” - see the side-by-side comparison. starved vs stave
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list