starved

adj

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

The verdict

“starved” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #15,706. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#15,706
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
11
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Approaching starvation, emaciated and malnourished.

Corpus desk

Index EN-starved · starved · English

starved · rank #15,706 · 11 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #15,706
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 11 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH spitting

Nearest frequency peer: spitting (-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 “starved”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “starved” 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).

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)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “starved”

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).starvedlands 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 “spitting” (#15,705), “stirred” (#15,707), “sobbing” (#15,704). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “starved” is #15,706. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around starved, anadjective. Corpus frequency is #15,706 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

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.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Alas poore hart, that kiſſe is comfortleſſe, / As frozen vvater to a ſtarued ſnake.
  2. I’m starved! I haven’t eaten since breakfast.

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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

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

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list