selflessness
noun
selflessness is spelled S-E-L-F-L-E-S-S-N-E-S-S: 12 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 45,947th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, selflessness means “The quality or state of being selfless” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of selflessness is selflessnesses.
How many letters and syllables are in selflessness?
| Letters | 12: S-E-L-F-L-E-S-S-N-E-S-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 45,947th 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 selflessness?
Selflessness appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 45,947th 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 selflessness?
- US
Selflessness 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)-Flame,_not_lame-selflessness.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of selflessness
- selflessnesses plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does selflessness mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The quality or state of being selfless.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Selflessness in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense quality or state of being selfless:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | altruisme |
| German | Selbstlosigkeit |
| Spanish | altruismo, abnegación, desprendimiento, desinterés |
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.