paperless

adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"paperless" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“paperless” is uncommon English (frequency #57,625 among 46,516 “P” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#57,625
frequency rank, English
46,516
“P” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Without paper.

Key facts for paperless
PropertyValue
Headwordpaperless
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
Letters9
Frequency rank#57,625
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “paperless” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). paperless lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

paperless is uncommon English at frequency #57,625 among 46,516 “P” headwords, classed as anadjective. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

paperless doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Etymologically, the entry records: From paper + -less. The correct English form is paperless, spelled P-A-P-E-R-L-E-S-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Without paper.
  2. 2
    Relating to or involving the communication or storage of information electronically, rather than with paper.
  3. 3
    Lacking official documentation or evidence of identity.

Etymology

From paper + -less.

This word in other languages

dématérialisé(Français)papierlos(Deutsch)

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

How do you spell "paperless"?
"paperless" is spelled P-A-P-E-R-L-E-S-S.
What does "paperless" mean?
As an adjective, "paperless" means: Without paper.
What is the origin of the word "paperless"?
From paper + -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.

Using “paperless”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is P-A-P-E-R-L-E-S-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Other uncommon English words near this rank

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.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list