colourless

/ˈkʌlə(ɹ).ləs/

//ˈkʌlə(ɹ).ləs// adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"colourless" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“colourless” is uncommon English (frequency #52,229 among 5,599 “C” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#52,229
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Having little or no colour.

Corpus desk

Index EN-colourless · colourless · English

colourless · rank #52,229 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #52,229
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH Colliers

Nearest frequency peer: Colliers (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

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.

Long-tail ranks near “colourless”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “colourless” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for colourless
PropertyValue
Headwordcolourless
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈkʌlə(ɹ).ləs/
Letters10
Frequency rank#52,229
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “colourless” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).colourlessfalls in this rarity band:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “Colliers” (#52,228), “commutative” (#52,230), “compaction” (#52,231). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “colourless” is #52,229. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

colourless is uncommon English at frequency #52,229 among 5,599 “C” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˈkʌlə(ɹ).ləs/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

colourless doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From colour + -less. The correct English form is colourless, spelled C-O-L-O-U-R-L-E-S-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Having little or no colour.
  2. 2
    Water white.
  3. 3
    Lacking in interest or variety.
  4. 4
    Neutral in opinion or allegiance; centrist

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. The servant to whom he put this question was a young fellow with chubby cheeks, small, dull eyes, and a round chin, covered with a colorless down.
  2. Behind him the hills are open, the sun blazes down upon fields so large as to give an unenclosed character to the landscape, the lanes are white, the hedges low and plashed, the atmosphere colourless.

Etymology

From colour + -less.

This word in other languages

incoloro(Español)incolore(Français)farblos(Deutsch)

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 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "colourless"?
"colourless" is spelled C-O-L-O-U-R-L-E-S-S. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈkʌlə(ɹ).ləs/.
What does "colourless" mean?
As an adjective, "colourless" means: Having little or no colour.
How do you pronounce "colourless"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "colourless" is /ˈkʌlə(ɹ).ləs/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "colourless"?
From colour + -less. See the full etymology section above for more details.
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 English words by spelling shape

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

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

compaction#52,231copywriter#52,237cricketing#52,247defecation#52,261

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list