gainful
adjective
gainful is spelled G-A-I-N-F-U-L: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 54,808th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, gainful means “Contrary” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in gainful?
| Letters | 7: G-A-I-N-F-U-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 54,808th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
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).
How common is gainful?
Gainful appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 54,808th 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 gainful?
Gainful 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).
Forms of gainful
- more gainful comparative
- most gainful superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does gainful mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Contrary.
- 2
Disposed to taking advantage of.
- 3
Troublesome; fractious; hard to handle.
- 4
Providing gain; profitable.
How can we find gainful employment with dignity for the uneducated?
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Gainful in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense Providing gain; profitable:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| Spanish | remunerado |
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 gainful come from?
From gain (“against, contrary”) + -ful.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).