undeserving
/ˌʌndɪˈzɝvɪŋ/adjective
undeserving is spelled U-N-D-E-S-E-R-V-I-N-G: 11 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 44,767th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, undeserving means “Considered unworthy of reward” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in undeserving?
| Letters | 11: U-N-D-E-S-E-R-V-I-N-G |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 44,767th 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 undeserving?
Undeserving appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 44,767th 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 undeserving?
- /ˌʌndɪˈzɝvɪŋ/
Undeserving has 4 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-undeserving.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of undeserving
- more undeserving comparative
- most undeserving superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does undeserving mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Considered unworthy of reward.
the undeserving poor
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Undeserving in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense considered unworthy of reward:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | unwürdig |
| Portuguese | desmerecedor, indigno |
| Spanish | inmerecido, no / poco merecedor / mereciente, desmerecedor, desmereciente |
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 undeserving come from?
From un- + deserving.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).