starving

/ˈstɑɹvɪŋ/

//ˈstɑɹvɪŋ// verb

"starving" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“starving” has 13 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #9,824. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#9,824
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
13
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - present participle and gerund of starve

Corpus desk

Index EN-starving · starving · English

starving · rank #9,824 · 13 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #9,824
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 13 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH stall

Nearest frequency peer: stall (-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.

Frequency neighbourhood for “starving”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “starving” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

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).

starving vs string
75% similar
starving vs staying
75% similar
starving vs stating
75% similar

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

Key facts for starving
PropertyValue
Headwordstarving
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/ˈstɑɹvɪŋ/
Letters8
Frequency rank#9,824
Misspellings tracked13
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “starving” sits in English frequency

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).starvinglands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “stall” (#9,823), “strap” (#9,825), “stained” (#9,822). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 13 spelling variants around starving (IPA /ˈstɑɹvɪŋ/), averb. Corpus frequency is #9,824 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Dominant gloss: "present participle and gerund of starve".

Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for starving, with forms such as "satrving", "sstarving", and "starivng". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "string", "staying", "stating", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct English form is starving, spelled S-T-A-R-V-I-N-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    present participle and gerund of starve

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. It is time the international community faced the reality: we have an unmanageable, unfair, distortionary global tax regime. […] It is the starving of the public sector which has been pivotal in America no longer being the land of opportunity – with a child's life prospects more dependent on the income and education of its parents than in other advanced co…

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • satrving
  • sstarving
  • starivng
  • starrving
  • starvign
  • starvingg
  • starvinng
  • starvnig
  • starvving
  • stavring
  • straving
  • sttarving
  • tsarving

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of starving - 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.

satrving2sstarving1starivng2starrving1starvign2starvingg1starvinng1starvnig2
Edit distance from "starving"

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 "starving"?
"starving" is spelled S-T-A-R-V-I-N-G. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈstɑɹvɪŋ/.
What does "starving" mean?
As a verb, "starving" means: present participle and gerund of starve
What words are commonly confused with "starving"?
"starving" is commonly confused with "string", "staying", "stating". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "starving"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "starving" is /ˈstɑɹvɪŋ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "starving" come from?
"starving" is a English word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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 "starving", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (13 here; floor ≥5).

What to do next

You've looked up "starving". Here's where to go from here.

  • "starving" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "string". View pair
  • 13 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #9,824 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more English words in the "S" letter cohort. S–Z browse
  • PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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