misgiving
/mɪsˈɡɪvɪŋ/noun
misgiving is spelled M-I-S-G-I-V-I-N-G: 9 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 26 million words in written English, the 155,937th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, misgiving means “Doubt, apprehension, a feeling of dread” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of misgiving is misgivings.
How many letters and syllables are in misgiving?
| Letters | 9: M-I-S-G-I-V-I-N-G |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 26 million words; the 155,937th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is misgiving?
Misgiving appears about once in every 26 million words in written English, the 155,937th 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 misgiving?
- /mɪsˈɡɪvɪŋ/
Misgiving has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-misgiving.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of misgiving
- misgivings plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does misgiving mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Doubt, apprehension, a feeling of dread
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Misgiving in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense Doubts, concerns:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | état d'âme |
| German | Zweifel, Bedenken |
| Portuguese | preocupações, dúvidas |
| Spanish | recelo, duda, temor |
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 misgiving come from?
From misgive, from mis- + give, from Middle English give (“suggest, given”). Compare given and what gives.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).