undue
/ʌnˈduː/adjective
undue is spelled U-N-D-U-E: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 1.9 times per million words in written English, the 19,825th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “undo vs undue” about 50 times a month (Google, United States). As an adjective, undue means “Excessive; going beyond that what is natural or sufficient” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in undue?
| Letters | 5: U-N-D-U-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.9 times per million words; the 19,825th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Sounds like | |
| Rhymes with |
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); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is undue?
Undue appears 1.9 times per million words in written English, the 19,825th 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 undue?
- UK /ʌnˈdjuː/
- US /ʌnˈduː/
- US /ʌnˈdjuː/
Undue 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-undue.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with undue
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sounds like: undo (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with undue?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as undue from its last stressed vowel (/u/):
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 undue
- more undue comparative
- most undue superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does undue mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Excessive; going beyond that what is natural or sufficient.
To individuals who despise killings in any form, death penalty is undue punishment.
- 2
Which ought not to be done; illegal; unjustified.
- 3
Not owing or payable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Undue in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | excessif , indu |
| German | übertrieben , unangemessen |
| Spanish | indebido, no/poco/nada debido , no pagadero |
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 undue come from?
From un- + due.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).