starveling

[ stahrv-ling ]

noun

1. a person, animal, or plant that is starving.

adjective

1. starving; suffering from lack of nourishment.
2. pining with want.
3. poverty-stricken.
4. poor in condition or quality.
5. such as to entail or suggest starvation.

starveling

/ ˈstɑːvlɪŋ /

noun

1. 1. a starving or poorly fed person, animal, etc
   2. ( as modifier )

      a starveling child

adjective

1. insufficient; meagre; scant

Word History and Origins

Origin of starveling¹

First recorded in 1540–50; starve + -ling ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of starveling¹

C16: from starve + -ling ¹

Example Sentences

I think of his starveling servants, of his urging Cardan to kill one of them for training, of the way he ordered Cardan beaten while professing his love for their family.

From Literature

Broad-shouldered men with strapping muscles from digging and hauling rocks wilted into bony, hollow-cheeked starvelings.

From Reuters

Part of the success Mr. Slimane enjoyed during his previous design stints owed to how easy it was for women to wear the stuff he intended for the scrawny starvelings he favors.

From New York Times

The man looked at them—a thin girl of ten with starveling hollows in her cheeks but with the chin still baby-round.

From Literature

“I’m sure Jamison would rush out here with a box of chocolates and a featherbed if he knew there was a starveling half-cracked student living under his University. They’d crock her and you know it.”

From Literature