unfamiliar
/ˌʌnfəˈmɪli.ə(ɹ)/adjective, noun
unfamiliar is spelled U-N-F-A-M-I-L-I-A-R: 10 letters and 4 syllables. It appears 4.2 times per million words in written English, the 12,578th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, unfamiliar means “Strange, not familiar” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in unfamiliar?
| Letters | 10: U-N-F-A-M-I-L-I-A-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 4.2 times per million words; the 12,578th 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 unfamiliar?
Unfamiliar appears 4.2 times per million words in written English, the 12,578th 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 unfamiliar?
- /ˌʌnfəˈmɪli.ə(ɹ)/
Unfamiliar 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-unfamiliar.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of unfamiliar
- more unfamiliar comparative
- most unfamiliar superlative
- unfamiliars plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does unfamiliar mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Strange, not familiar.
noun
- 1
An unfamiliar person; a stranger.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Unfamiliar in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense not familiar:
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 unfamiliar come from?
From un- + familiar.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).