uneven
/ʌnˈivən/adjective, verb
uneven is spelled U-N-E-V-E-N: 6 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 3.5 times per million words in written English, the 13,897th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, uneven means “Of a surface, not even; covered with raised spots, pits and grooves” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in uneven?
| Letters | 6: U-N-E-V-E-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.5 times per million words; the 13,897th 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 uneven?
Uneven appears 3.5 times per million words in written English, the 13,897th 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 uneven?
- /ʌnˈivən/
Uneven 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-uneven.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of uneven
- more uneven comparative
- most uneven superlative
- unevens present, singular, he/she/it
- unevening participle, present
- unevened participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does uneven mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Of a surface, not even; covered with raised spots, pits and grooves.
- 2
Not level or smooth.
- 3
Not uniform.
- 4
Varying in quality.
- 5
rareOdd.
verb
- 1
To make uneven.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Uneven in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | uneben |
| Portuguese | desigual , desnivelado , desuniforme , despadronizado |
| Spanish | desigual, escabroso , desnivelado, disparejo, desparejo |
| French | inégal, scabreux |
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 uneven come from?
From Middle English uneven, from Old English unefen (“unequal, unlike, dissimilar, diverse, irregular”), equivalent to un- + even. Cognate with Dutch oneven (“unequal, uneven, odd”), German uneben (“uneven, rough, irregular, bumpy”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).