unfair
/ʌnˈfɛə(ɹ)/adjective
unfair is spelled U-N-F-A-I-R: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 15 times per million words in written English, the 5,407th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, unfair means “Not just” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in unfair?
| Letters | 6: U-N-F-A-I-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 15 times per million words; the 5,407th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| 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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is unfair?
Unfair appears 15 times per million words in written English, the 5,407th 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 unfair?
- UK /ʌnˈfɛə(ɹ)/
- UK [ɐnˈfɛə(ɹ)]
- UK /ʌnˈfɛː(ɹ)/
Unfair 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: En-us-unfair.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with unfair?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as unfair from its last stressed vowel (/ɛə/, British pronunciation):
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 unfair
- unfairer comparative
- more unfair comparative
- unfairest superlative
- most unfair superlative
- unfairs present, singular, he/she/it
- unfairing participle, present
- unfaired participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does unfair mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Not just.
It was unfair for the boss to give larger bonuses to his friends.
- 2
archaicrareNot beautiful; uncomely; unattractive.
- 3
archaicobsoleteSorrowful; sad.
- 4
archaicUnseemly; disgraceful.
verb
- 1
obsoleteto make ugly
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Unfair in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense not fair:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | injuste, déloyal |
| German | unfair, ungerecht |
| Portuguese | injusto |
| Spanish | injusto, que no vale, inicuo |
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 unfair come from?
From Middle English unfair (“unattractive, unseemly”), from Old English unfæġer (“ugly”), equivalent to un- + fair.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).