unfollow

verb

"unfollow" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“unfollow” is uncommon English (frequency #55,166 among 23,789 “U” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#55,166
frequency rank, English
23,789
“U” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To cease to subscribe to (a feed of another user's activity).

Key facts for unfollow
PropertyValue
Headwordunfollow
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
Letters8
Frequency rank#55,166
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “unfollow” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). unfollow lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

unfollow is uncommon English at frequency #55,166 among 23,789 “U” headwords, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "To cease to subscribe to (a feed of another user's activity).".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for unfollow, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From un- + follow. The correct English form is unfollow, spelled U-N-F-O-L-L-O-W.

Definition

  1. 1
    To cease to subscribe to (a feed of another user's activity).

Etymology

From un- + follow.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "unfollow"?
"unfollow" is spelled U-N-F-O-L-L-O-W.
What does "unfollow" mean?
As a verb, "unfollow" means: To cease to subscribe to (a feed of another user's activity).
What is the origin of the word "unfollow"?
From un- + follow. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “unfollow”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is U-N-F-O-L-L-O-W - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Other uncommon English words near this rank

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list