unable
/ʌnˈeɪbl̩/adjective, interjection, verb
unable is spelled U-N-A-B-L-E: 6 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 41 times per million words in written English, the 2,438th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, unable means “Not able; lacking a certain ability” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in unable?
| Letters | 6: U-N-A-B-L-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 41 times per million words; the 2,438th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is unable?
Unable appears 41 times per million words in written English, the 2,438th 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 unable?
- /ʌnˈeɪbl̩/
Unable 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: En-us-unable.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with unable?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as unable.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: nebula.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of unable
- unabler comparative
- more unable comparative
- unablest superlative
- most unable superlative
- unables present, singular, he/she/it
- unabling participle, present
- unabled participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does unable mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Not able; lacking a certain ability.
Are you unable to mind your own business or something?
interjection
- 1
Indicating that a requested course of action is not possible to carry out.
"November three seven kilo, climb and maintain twelve thousand." "Unable, we have pressurization problems. Maintaining nine thousand."
verb
- 1
nonstandardTo render unable; to disable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Unable in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense not able:
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 unable come from?
From Middle English unable, unabel, unhable, unhabil, equivalent to un- + able.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).