lawless
/ˈlɔːləs/
"lawless" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“lawless” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #20,151 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #20,151
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Not governed by any law.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | lawless |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈlɔːləs/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #20,151 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “lawless” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for lawless is 7 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈlɔːləs/. Corpus data places it at rank #20,151 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for lawless, with forms such as "alwless", "lalwess", and "lawelss". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "lawyers", "Lawler", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English laweles; equivalent to law + -less. Cognate with Danish lovløs (“lawless”), Swedish laglös (“lawless”), Norwegian lovløs (“lawless”), Icelandic löglaus (“lawless”). The correct English form is lawless, spelled L-A-W-L-E-S-S.
Definition
- 1Not governed by any law.
- 2Prohibited by law; unlawful, illegal.
- 3Not restrained by the law or by discipline; disorderly, unruly.
Etymology
From Middle English laweles; equivalent to law + -less. Cognate with Danish lovløs (“lawless”), Swedish laglös (“lawless”), Norwegian lovløs (“lawless”), Icelandic löglaus (“lawless”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: alwless,lalwess,lawelss,lawles,lawlless,lawlses,lawwless,llawless,lwaless
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of lawless - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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
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Using “lawless”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is L-A-W-L-E-S-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈlɔːləs/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “lawyers” - see the side-by-side comparison. lawless vs lawyers
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.