What does shaved mean?
Shaved is the past tense and past participle of the verb shave, meaning to remove hair with a razor or, more broadly, to remove a thin layer from something. It is especially common in references to shaving the face, head, or body, and it can describe either the completed action or the resulting appearance: a person may have shaved before work, or may have a shaved head. The word also has a less common sense of cutting or trimming a surface or an object. As a participle, it combines naturally with auxiliary verbs, as in "has shaved," while the related adjective shaven appears in expressions such as "clean-shaven." Although the pronunciation is identical in British and American English, contexts and descriptive phrases may vary slightly.
To remove hair from the body or face with a razor, or to remove a thin layer from a surface.
"He shaved his beard and examined himself in the mirror."
Can be used as a past tense or past participle; the latter commonly appears with forms of "have" and "be."
Having had hair removed with a razor, or having a surface from which a thin layer has been removed.
"The athlete had a shaved head and wore a cap during the match."
When used attributively, this form is often hyphenated before a noun, as in "shaved head."
A clean shave can signal careful preparation, while a shaved head can make identity and appearance strikingly visible.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does shaved come from?
The word comes from Old English sceafan, a Germanic verb meaning to shave or scrape. Its modern spelling, shaved, reflects the regular English development of the base form through the vowel change associated with "shave." The family includes related forms such as shaver, shaving, and shaven, and it has parallels in other Germanic languages, including Dutch schaven.
Related word forms
How shaved is actually used
In everyday use, shaved most often refers to facial or head hair. The phrase "shaven" is commonly used in the fixed expression "clean-shaven," meaning without facial hair.
Easily confused with shaved
Shaved describes the action or its result, while shaven usually describes a person whose facial hair has been removed.
Shave is the base verb, while shaved is its past tense and past participle form.