handedness
/ˈhændɪdnəs/noun
handedness is spelled H-A-N-D-E-D-N-E-S-S: 10 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 49,949th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, handedness means “A preference (usually innate) for using one hand rather than the other” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of handedness is handednesses.
How many letters and syllables are in handedness?
| Letters | 10: H-A-N-D-E-D-N-E-S-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 49,949th 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 handedness?
Handedness appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 49,949th 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 handedness?
- UK /ˈhændɪdnəs/
Handedness 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)-Flame,_not_lame-handedness.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of handedness
- handednesses plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does handedness mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A preference (usually innate) for using one hand rather than the other.
- 2
The property that distinguishes an asymmetric object from its mirror image. For example, the essential difference between a left and right glove.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Handedness in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | manualité, préférence manuelle , chiralité |
| German | Händigkeit , Chiralität |
| Spanish | manaje, lateralidad |
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.