guiltless

/ˈɡɪltləs/

//ˈɡɪltləs// adj

"guiltless" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“guiltless” is uncommon English (frequency #94,918 among 2,313 “G” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#94,918
frequency rank, English
2,313
“G” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Free from guilt; innocent.

Corpus desk

Index EN-guiltless · guiltless · English

guiltless · rank #94,918 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #94,918
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,313
  • PHOTO-FINISH guro

Nearest frequency peer: guro (+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 “guiltless”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for guiltless
PropertyValue
Headwordguiltless
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈɡɪltləs/
Letters9
Frequency rank#94,918
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “guiltless” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).guiltlessfalls in this rarity band:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “guro” (#94,919), “guesstimate” (#94,915), “gymkhana” (#94,921). Among 2,313 “G” headwords, “guiltless” is #94,918. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

guiltless is uncommon English at frequency #94,918 among 2,313 “G” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˈɡɪltləs/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for guiltless, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English giltles, gultles, gyltles, from Old English *gyltlēas, equivalent to guilt + -less. Compare Old English sċyldlēas (“guiltless”). The correct English form is guiltless, spelled G-U-I-L-T-L-E-S-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Free from guilt; innocent.
  2. 2
    Without experience or trial; unacquainted (with).
  3. 3
    Not encumbered with; free from.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. Their spears, wommeras, and boomerangs are guiltless of ornamentation, and save in a very few instances no idea of art seems to belong to the race.

Etymology

From Middle English giltles, gultles, gyltles, from Old English *gyltlēas, equivalent to guilt + -less. Compare Old English sċyldlēas (“guiltless”).

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

How do you spell "guiltless"?
"guiltless" is spelled G-U-I-L-T-L-E-S-S. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈɡɪltləs/.
What does "guiltless" mean?
As an adjective, "guiltless" means: Free from guilt; innocent.
How do you pronounce "guiltless"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "guiltless" is /ˈɡɪltləs/. 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 "guiltless"?
From Middle English giltles, gultles, gyltles, from Old English *gyltlēas, equivalent to guilt + -less. Compare Old English sċyldlēas (“guiltless”). 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 "guiltless", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list