heartless
heart·less/ˈhɑɹt.lɪs/adjective
heartless is spelled H-E-A-R-T-L-E-S-S: 9 letters and 2 syllables (heart·less). It appears 2.1 times per million words in written English, the 18,811th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, heartless means “Without feeling, emotion, or concern for others; uncaring; cruel” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in heartless?
| Letters | 9: H-E-A-R-T-L-E-S-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: heart·less |
| In writing | 2.1 times per million words; the 18,811th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is heartless?
Heartless appears 2.1 times per million words in written English, the 18,811th 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 heartless?
- UK /ˈhɑːt.lɪs/
- US /ˈhɑɹt.lɪs/
Heartless has 2 syllables, split heart·less in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-heartless.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of heartless
- more heartless comparative
- most heartless superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does heartless mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Without feeling, emotion, or concern for others; uncaring; cruel.
His heartless actions and cold manner left her saddened and feeling alone.
- 2
Without a physical heart.
- 3
archaicListless, unenthusiastic.
Near-synonyms: spiritless, unhearty
- 4
obsoleteWithout courage; fearful, cowardly.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Heartless in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense without feeling:
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 heartless come from?
From Middle English hertles, herteles, from Old English heortlēas (“without courage; listless”), equivalent to heart + -less. Cognate with German herzlos.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).