unfathomable
un·fa·thom·a·ble/ˌʌnˈfæð(ə)məb(ə)l/adjective
unfathomable is spelled U-N-F-A-T-H-O-M-A-B-L-E: 12 letters and 5 syllables (un·fa·thom·a·ble). It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 32,393rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, unfathomable means “Especially of depth: physically incapable of being measured; immeasurable” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in unfathomable?
| Letters | 12: U-N-F-A-T-H-O-M-A-B-L-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 5: un·fa·thom·a·ble |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 32,393rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is unfathomable?
Unfathomable appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 32,393rd 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 unfathomable?
- UK /(ˌ)ʌnˈfæðəməbl̩/
- UK /ʌnˈfæðm̩əbl̩/
- US /ˌʌnˈfæð(ə)məb(ə)l/
Unfathomable has 5 syllables, split un·fa·thom·a·ble in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-unfathomable.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of unfathomable
- more unfathomable comparative
- most unfathomable superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does unfathomable mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Especially of depth: physically incapable of being measured; immeasurable.
- 2
Impossible to grasp the extent of, or to fully know or understand.
The sheer number of warriors the enemy attacked with was unfathomable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Unfathomable in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | insondable , incompréhensible |
| German | unermesslich, unergründlich, abgrundtief , unfassbar |
| Portuguese | imperscrutável, insondável , incompreensível |
| Spanish | insondable |
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 unfathomable come from?
From un- (prefix meaning ‘not’) + fathom (“to measure the depth of (water); (figurative) to deeply understand (someone or something)”) + -able (suffix forming adjectives denoting things not able or fit to be done).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).