unbelieving

adj

"unbelieving" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“unbelieving” is uncommon English (frequency #73,754 among 1,433 “U” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#73,754
frequency rank, English
1,433
“U” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - That does not believe; incredulous, skeptical.

Corpus desk

Index EN-unbelieving · unbelieving · English

unbelieving · rank #73,754 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #73,754
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,433
  • PHOTO-FINISH underaged

Nearest frequency peer: underaged (+1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “unbelieving”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “unbelieving” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for unbelieving
PropertyValue
Headwordunbelieving
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
Letters11
Frequency rank#73,754
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “unbelieving” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).unbelievingfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “underaged” (#73,755), “undigested” (#73,756), “Ulsan” (#73,751). Among 1,433 “U” headwords, “unbelieving” is #73,754. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

unbelieving is uncommon English at frequency #73,754 among 1,433 “U” headwords, classed as anadjective. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "That does not believe; incredulous, skeptical.".

No generated misspelling entries exist for unbelieving in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

Etymologically, the entry records: From un- + believing. The correct English form is unbelieving, spelled U-N-B-E-L-I-E-V-I-N-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    That does not believe; incredulous, skeptical.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how unbelieving appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. One Sunday morning I woke up, saying to my sister N., " Do you know, I have had such a vivid dream about the Roper party that I can hardly believe T am awake now." "What did you dream?" said N., in rather an unbelieving and sleepy tone of voice.
  2. The burnt and bleeding man staggered to his feet, dazed and unbelieving, and asked the startled townspeople who came running whether his fireman and guard were safe. He was kept away from the smouldering crater where his engine had been, and taken to hospital.

Etymology

From un- + believing.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "unbelieving"?
"unbelieving" is spelled U-N-B-E-L-I-E-V-I-N-G.
What does "unbelieving" mean?
As an adjective, "unbelieving" means: That does not believe; incredulous, skeptical.
What is the origin of the word "unbelieving"?
From un- + believing. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "unbelieving", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list