serendipitous
/ˌsɛ.ɹɛnˈdɪp.ɪ.təs/adjective
serendipitous is spelled S-E-R-E-N-D-I-P-I-T-O-U-S: 13 letters and 5 syllables. It appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 63,645th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, serendipitous means “by serendipity; by unexpected good fortune” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in serendipitous?
| Letters | 13: S-E-R-E-N-D-I-P-I-T-O-U-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 5 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 5 million words; the 63,645th 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 serendipitous?
Serendipitous appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 63,645th 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 serendipitous?
- /ˌsɛ.ɹɛnˈdɪp.ɪ.təs/
- /ˌsɛ.ɹənˈdɪp.ɪ.təs/
Serendipitous has 5 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-serendipitous.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of serendipitous
- more serendipitous comparative
- most serendipitous superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does serendipitous mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
by serendipity; by unexpected good fortune
- 2
good, beneficial, favorable
The weather was serendipitous for our vacation.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Serendipitous in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense by unexpected good fortune:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | fortuit, sérendipiteux |
| Portuguese | providencial, favorável, generoso, fortuito |
| Spanish | fortuitamente, serendípico |
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.