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Glite Dictionary
starveling

starveling

1 9.9
A person who is very thin because they do not get enough food
  • noun
  • /ˈstɑrvəlɪŋ/
  • Archaic
translation icon : desnutrido
  • They eat platters of clam strips and slaw like starvelings, for that miles-from-home weightlessness.

Examples

  • A ragtag lot of starvelings they were; men, women, and children, unkempt, round-eyed with hunger, for even what they stole was barely enough to serve them.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • And indeed, after a year of living upon the rude charity of the road, he did not have to entirely feign the manners of a starveling.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • Despite all that sleep and fancy fare, we look like starvelings.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • The charity aims to help starvelings find food and shelter in the city.

  • During the famine, many starvelings roamed the streets, looking for any scraps to eat.

  • Seeing the starveling children at the shelter made her heart ache with compassion.

Synonyms

starver
vsstarveling
8.6

A person or animal very weak because they have no food

applies only to people and not to animals

Antonyms

well-fed
20 1.1

Not hungry because you have eaten enough food

Surface Forms

starveling singular
starvelings plural

Morphology

starveling = starve (transparent) = starve + ling

The word is clearly formed from the verb 'starve' plus the noun-forming/diminutive suffix '-ling', meaning 'a person who is starving', which is directly deducible.

Etymology

Starveling comes from starve ('to be very hungry' or 'to die from hunger') plus the ending -ling (a small or young one, as in duckling). So a starveling is like a 'little' or pitiable person who is starving, which is why we use it for someone very thin and hungry.