disbelief
/dɪsbɪˈliːf/noun
disbelief is spelled D-I-S-B-E-L-I-E-F: 9 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 2.7 times per million words in written English, the 16,455th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, disbelief means “An unpreparedness, unwillingness, or an inability to believe that something is the case” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of disbelief is disbeliefs.
How many letters and syllables are in disbelief?
| Letters | 9: D-I-S-B-E-L-I-E-F |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.7 times per million words; the 16,455th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is disbelief?
Disbelief appears 2.7 times per million words in written English, the 16,455th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce disbelief?
- UK /dɪsbɪˈliːf/
Disbelief has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-disbelief.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with disbelief?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as disbelief from its last stressed vowel (/if/, British pronunciation):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of disbelief
- disbeliefs plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does disbelief mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An unpreparedness, unwillingness, or an inability to believe that something is the case.
She cried out in disbelief on hearing that terrorists had crashed an airplane into the World Trade Center in New York City.
- 2
Astonishment.
I stared in disbelief at the Grand Canyon.
- 3
The loss or abandonment of a belief; the cessation of belief.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Disbelief in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Unglaube |
| Portuguese | descrença, incredulidade , surpresa |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does disbelief come from?
From dis- + belief.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).