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mindless

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

8 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "mindless", 8-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "mindless" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "mindless" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

mindless is anEnglishadj. It means: Showing a lack of forethought or sense. Pronounced /maɪnd.ləs/.

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Key facts for mindless
PropertyValue
Headwordmindless
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdj
IPA/maɪnd.ləs/
Letters8
Frequency rank#21,870
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of mindless in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for mindless is 8 letters long, classified as anadj, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /maɪnd.ləs/. Corpus data places it at rank #21,870 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 11 documented wrong-spelling variants for mindless, with forms such as "imndless", "midnless", and "minddless". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English myndles, myndelees, myndeles, mendlees, from Old English myndlēas, ġemyndlēas (“foolish, senseless”), equivalent to mind + -less. Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is mindless, spelled M-I-N-D-L-E-S-S, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    Showing a lack of forethought or sense.
  2. 2
    Having no sensible meaning or purpose.
  3. 3
    Heedless.
  4. 4
    Overly repetitive and unchallenging, not requiring any careful attention or providing any significant stimulation.
  5. 5
    Lacking a mind.

Etymology

From Middle English myndles, myndelees, myndeles, mendlees, from Old English myndlēas, ġemyndlēas (“foolish, senseless”), equivalent to mind + -less.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: imndless,midnless,minddless,mindelss,mindles,mindlless,mindlses,minldess,minndless,mmindless,mnidless

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for mindless

Misspelling Variants of "mindless"

imndless8midnless8minddless9mindelss8mindles7mindlless9mindlses8minldess8
Misspelling Variants of "mindless"

Frequency rank: #21,870 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "mindless"?
"mindless" is spelled M-I-N-D-L-E-S-S. The IPA pronunciation is /maɪnd.ləs/.
What does "mindless" mean?
As an adj, "mindless" means: Showing a lack of forethought or sense.
What are common misspellings of "mindless"?
Common misspellings include "imndless", "midnless", "minddless", "mindelss", "mindles". The correct spelling is "mindless".
How do you pronounce "mindless"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "mindless" is /maɪnd.ləs/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "mindless"?
From Middle English myndles, myndelees, myndeles, mendlees, from Old English myndlēas, ġemyndlēas (“foolish, senseless”), equivalent to mind + -less. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter M in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.