speechless
/ˈspiːt͡ʃ.lɪs/adjective
speechless is spelled S-P-E-E-C-H-L-E-S-S: 10 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 1.8 times per million words in written English, the 20,629th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, speechless means “Not speaking; not knowing what to say; silent, especially due to surprise, amazement, etc.; wordless” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in speechless?
| Letters | 10: S-P-E-E-C-H-L-E-S-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.8 times per million words; the 20,629th 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 speechless?
Speechless appears 1.8 times per million words in written English, the 20,629th 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 speechless?
- US /ˈspiːt͡ʃ.lɪs/
Speechless 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-speechless.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What does speechless mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Not speaking; not knowing what to say; silent, especially due to surprise, amazement, etc.; wordless.
When he walked into his surprise birthday party, he was completely speechless.
- 2
archaicSynonym of unspeakable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Speechless in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense not speaking; not knowing what to say:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | sans voix |
| German | sprachlos, fassungslos, stumm |
| Portuguese | sem palavras, atónito, atônito, perplexo, estarrecido |
| Spanish | sin palabras, sin habla, atónito, mudo, corchado, enmudecido |
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 speechless come from?
From Middle English specheles, from Old English sprǣċlēas (“speechless; without the power of speak”), from Proto-Germanic *sprēkalausaz, equivalent to speech + -less. Cognate with West Frisian sprakeleas (“speechless”), Dutch sprakeloos (“speechless”), German Low German spraaklos (“speechless”), German sprachlos (“speechless”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).