feckless
/ˈfɛkləs/
"feckless" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“feckless” is an uncommon English word, ranked #54,175 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #54,175
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Lacking purpose.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | feckless |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈfɛkləs/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #54,175 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “feckless” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for feckless is 8 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈfɛkləs/. Corpus data places it at rank #54,175 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for feckless, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Scots feckless, variant of Scots fectless (“ineffectual”) (an aphetic variant of effectless), equivalent to effect + -less. The correct English form is feckless, spelled F-E-C-K-L-E-S-S.
Definition
- 1Lacking purpose.
- 2Without skill, ineffective, incompetent.
- 3Lacking the courage to act in any meaningful way.
- 4Lacking vitality.
Etymology
From Scots feckless, variant of Scots fectless (“ineffectual”) (an aphetic variant of effectless), equivalent to effect + -less.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
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
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Using “feckless”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is F-E-C-K-L-E-S-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈfɛkləs/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.