unfairly
adverb
unfairly is spelled U-N-F-A-I-R-L-Y: 8 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 2.3 times per million words in written English, the 18,064th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adverb, unfairly means “In a manner that is unfair” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in unfairly?
| Letters | 8: U-N-F-A-I-R-L-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.3 times per million words; the 18,064th 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 unfairly?
Unfairly appears 2.3 times per million words in written English, the 18,064th 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 unfairly?
Unfairly 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).
Forms of unfairly
- more unfairly comparative
- most unfairly superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does unfairly mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adverb
- 1
In a manner that is unfair.
The carnival games were unfairly difficult, and hardly anybody won a prize.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does unfairly come from?
From unfair + -ly or un- + fairly.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).