feckless
/ˈfɛkləs/adjective
feckless is spelled F-E-C-K-L-E-S-S: 8 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 54,192nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, feckless means “Lacking purpose” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in feckless?
| Letters | 8: F-E-C-K-L-E-S-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 54,192nd 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 feckless?
Feckless appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 54,192nd 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 feckless?
- US /ˈfɛkləs/
- US /ˈfɛklɪs/
Feckless has 2 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: En-us-feckless.ogg, En-au-feckless.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with feckless?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as feckless from its last stressed vowel (/ɛkləs/):
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 feckless
- more feckless comparative
- most feckless superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does feckless mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Lacking purpose.
- 2
Without skill, ineffective, incompetent.
- 3
Lacking the courage to act in any meaningful way.
- 4
UKarchaicLacking vitality.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Feckless in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | irréfléchi, irresponsable , incapable |
| German | nichtsnutzig, nutzlos, ziellos , unfähig, untauglich, wirkungslos |
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 feckless come from?
From Scots feckless, variant of Scots fectless (“ineffectual”) (an aphetic variant of effectless), equivalent to effect + -less.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).