uncommon
un·com·mon/ʌnˈkɒmən/adjective
uncommon is spelled U-N-C-O-M-M-O-N: 8 letters and 3 syllables (un·com·mon). It appears 7.4 times per million words in written English, the 8,669th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, uncommon means “Rare; not readily found; unusual” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in uncommon?
| Letters | 8: U-N-C-O-M-M-O-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: un·com·mon |
| In writing | 7.4 times per million words; the 8,669th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is uncommon?
Uncommon appears 7.4 times per million words in written English, the 8,669th 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 uncommon?
- /ʌnˈkɒmən/
Uncommon has 3 syllables, split un·com·mon in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-uncommon.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of uncommon
- more uncommon comparative
- uncommoner comparative
- most uncommon superlative
- uncommonest superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does uncommon mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Rare; not readily found; unusual.
Bald eagles are an uncommon sighting in this state.
- 2
Remarkable; exceptional.
The diamond was of uncommon size
adverb
- 1
UKarchaicExceedingly, exceptionally.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Uncommon in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | ungebräuchlich , ungewöhnlich |
| Portuguese | incomum , excepcional |
| Spanish | poco común, nada común, extraño, insólito, incomún |
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 uncommon come from?
From un- + common.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).