unfair

[ˈʊnˌfɛːɐ̯]

/[ˈʊnˌfɛːɐ̯]/ adj

The verdict

“unfair” has 8 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #9,472. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#9,472
frequency rank, German
2,159
“U” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
3
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - nicht (moralisch, ethisch) gerecht (fair) oder nicht den (sportlichen, zwischenmenschlichen) Regeln (der Fairness) entsprechend

Corpus desk

Index DE-unfair · unfair · German

unfair · rank #9,472 · 8 variants · 3 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #9,472
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 3 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,159
  • PHOTO-FINISH Tüte

Nearest frequency peer: Tüte (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rang-Peers am Tippfehler-Magneten „unfair“

Gleiche Seltenheitsbandbreite: nützlich, wenn ein Tippfehler auf ein Peer-Lemma trifft

corpus weight

What this shows „unfair“ sitzt unter diesen FrequencyWords-Peers; die Tippfehlertiefe steht separat im Edit-Distance-Chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

unfair vs Unfall
50% similar
unfair vs unwahr
67% similar
unfair vs unfähig
57% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for unfair
PropertyValue
Headwordunfair
LanguageGerman
Part of speechAdjective
IPA[ˈʊnˌfɛːɐ̯]
Letters6
Frequency rank#9,472
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs3
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „unfair“

Diese Skala geht vom Kern des Alltagdeutschen (links) bis zum seltenen Langschwanz (rechts).unfairliegt hier neben dem Tippfehler-Druck:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Die Achse ist logarithmisch: jeder Tick markiert etwa zehnfach geringere Häufigkeit. Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „Tüte“ (#9,471), „ungeachtet“ (#9,473), „Ts“ (#9,470). Unter 2,159 „U“-Lemmata liegt „unfair“ bei #9,472. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around unfair (IPA [ˈʊnˌfɛːɐ̯]), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #9,472 among 2,159 “U” headwords. Dominant gloss: "nicht (moralisch, ethisch) gerecht (fair) oder nicht den (sportlichen, zwischenmenschlichen) Regeln (der Fairness) entsprechend".

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for unfair, with forms such as "nufair", "ufnair", and "unafir". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "Unfall", "unwahr", "unfähig", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct German form is unfair, spelled U-N-F-A-I-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    nicht (moralisch, ethisch) gerecht (fair) oder nicht den (sportlichen, zwischenmenschlichen) Regeln (der Fairness) entsprechend

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how unfair appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Im Scheidungskrieg wird schon mal gerne zu unfairen Mitteln gegriffen.
  2. „Unfaires Verhalten im sportlichen Wettbewerb ist also insoweit ein Strafrechtsproblem, wie es zur Gefährdung oder Verletzung anerkannter strafrechtlich zu schützender Individualrechtsgüter führt.“

Antonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • nufair
  • ufnair
  • unafir
  • unfairr
  • unfari
  • unffair
  • unfiar
  • unnfair

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of unfair - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

nufair2ufnair2unafir2unfairr1unfari2unffair1unfiar2unnfair1
Edit distance from "unfair"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "unfair"?
"unfair" is spelled U-N-F-A-I-R. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈʊnˌfɛːɐ̯].
What does "unfair" mean?
As an adjective, "unfair" means: nicht (moralisch, ethisch) gerecht (fair) oder nicht den (sportlichen, zwischenmenschlichen) Regeln (der Fairness) entsprechend
What words are commonly confused with "unfair"?
"unfair" is commonly confused with "Unfall", "unwahr", "unfähig". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "unfair"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "unfair" is [ˈʊnˌfɛːɐ̯]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "unfair" come from?
"unfair" is a German word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar German words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "unfair", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list