incessant
in·ces·sant/ɪnˈsɛs.ənt/adjective
incessant is spelled I-N-C-E-S-S-A-N-T: 9 letters and 3 syllables (in·ces·sant). It appears 1.1 times per million words in written English, the 27,820th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, incessant means “Without pause or stop; not ending, especially to the point of annoyance” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in incessant?
| Letters | 9: I-N-C-E-S-S-A-N-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: in·ces·sant |
| In writing | 1.1 times per million words; the 27,820th 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 incessant?
Incessant appears 1.1 times per million words in written English, the 27,820th 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 incessant?
- /ɪnˈsɛs.ənt/
Incessant has 3 syllables, split in·ces·sant in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_(NaomiAmethyst)-incessant.wav, En-us-incessant.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of incessant
- more incessant comparative
- most incessant superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does incessant mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Without pause or stop; not ending, especially to the point of annoyance.
The dog's incessant barking kept the girl awake all night.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Incessant in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense without pause or stop; not ending:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | incessant |
| German | ständig, unablässig, unaufhörlich |
| Portuguese | incessante |
| Spanish | incesante |
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 incessant come from?
From Late Middle English incessaunte, from Late Latin incessāns, incessantem, from Latin in- + cessāns.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).