starved

Starved is the past participle of the verb starve and is used as an adjective to describe someone or something that has experienced severe hunger or deprivation of essential resources. It can apply to people, animals, or even non-living things that have been deprived for a period of time.

In everyday usage, starved typically refers to physical hunger caused by insufficient caloric intake, whether due to poverty, famine, food insecurity, or conflict. It can also describe deprivation of non-food necessities, such as being starved of funding or starved of attention. The term emphasizes that the deprivation occurred over a period and may be ongoing or recently resolved.

Effects of starvation include weakness, fatigue, dizziness, and impaired cognitive function, with more severe cases risking organ damage or death. Chronic starvation can lead to malnutrition, stunted growth in children, and increased vulnerability to disease. In populations experiencing famine or food shortage, the consequences can be acute and widespread.

In biology and medicine, starvation describes cellular or bodily responses to nutrient deprivation, including metabolic changes and, in some contexts, autophagy. Metaphorically, starved is also used to convey intense longing or lack of a desired resource, as in phrases like “starved for attention” or “starved of funds.”

See also: hunger, malnutrition, famine, food insecurity, starvation.