inadvertent
in·ad·ver·tent/ˌɪnədˈvɝtn̩t/adjective
inadvertent is spelled I-N-A-D-V-E-R-T-E-N-T: 11 letters and 4 syllables (in·ad·ver·tent). It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 37,459th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, inadvertent means “Not intentional; not on purpose; not conscious” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in inadvertent?
| Letters | 11: I-N-A-D-V-E-R-T-E-N-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4: in·ad·ver·tent |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 37,459th 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 inadvertent?
Inadvertent appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 37,459th 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 inadvertent?
- UK /ˌɪnədˈvɜːtn̩t/
- US /ˌɪnədˈvɝtn̩t/
Inadvertent has 4 syllables, split in·ad·ver·tent in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-inadvertent.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What does inadvertent mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Not intentional; not on purpose; not conscious.
We check everything because an inadvertent error could be disastrous.
- 2
obsoleteInattentive.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Inadvertent in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense not intentional:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | involontaire |
| German | versehentlich, irrtümlich, unbeabsichtigt, unabsichtlich |
| Portuguese | inadvertido |
| Spanish | involuntario |
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 inadvertent come from?
Borrowed from Medieval Latin inadvertēns.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).