What does "starveling" mean?

One who is thin from lack of food.

What is a synonym for "starveling"?

Common synonyms include: almsman, attenuated, bankrupt, bare handed, beggar, beggared.

adj, noun

adj, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Noun

1
One who is thin from lack of food.
"If I hang, I'll make a fat pair of gallows; for if I hang, old Sir John hangs with me, and thou knowest he is no starveling."
2
someone who is starving (or being starved) wordnet

Adjective

1
Starving; suffering from starvation.
2
Meagre; scanty.
"[A] few meetings in the cape-broom, a starveling allowance of kisses in a very ill-advised publicity."

"If I hang, I'll make a fat pair of gallows; for if I hang, old Sir John hangs with me, and thou knowest he is no starveling."

From starve + -ling.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.