selfless
adjective
selfless is spelled S-E-L-F-L-E-S-S: 8 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 2.0 times per million words in written English, the 19,589th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, selfless means “Having, exhibiting or motivated by no concern for oneself but for others; unselfish” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in selfless?
| Letters | 8: S-E-L-F-L-E-S-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.0 times per million words; the 19,589th 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 selfless?
Selfless appears 2.0 times per million words in written English, the 19,589th 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 selfless?
- US
Selfless has 2 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: En-us-selfless.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of selfless
- more selfless comparative
- most selfless superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does selfless mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Having, exhibiting or motivated by no concern for oneself but for others; unselfish.
In a selfless act of gratitude for saving his mother's life, Peter committed to giving money to his local breast cancer charity each year for the rest of his life.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Selfless in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense having, exhibiting or motivated by no concern for oneself; unselfish:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | dévoué, altruiste |
| German | selbstlos, uneigennützig |
| Portuguese | altruísta, desinteressado |
| Spanish | desinteresado, abnegado, altruista |
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 selfless come from?
From self + -less.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).