unforeseen
/ˌʌnfɔɹˈsin/adjective, noun
unforeseen is spelled U-N-F-O-R-E-S-E-E-N: 10 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 1.5 times per million words in written English, the 23,253rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, unforeseen means “Not foreseen” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in unforeseen?
| Letters | 10: U-N-F-O-R-E-S-E-E-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.5 times per million words; the 23,253rd 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 unforeseen?
Unforeseen appears 1.5 times per million words in written English, the 23,253rd 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 unforeseen?
- UK /ˌʌnfɔːˈsiːn/
- US /ˌʌnfɔɹˈsin/
- Australia /ˌɐnfoːˈsiːn/
Unforeseen 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). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vininn126-unforeseen.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with unforeseen?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as unforeseen from its last stressed vowel (/in/):
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 unforeseen
- unforeseens plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does unforeseen mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Not foreseen.
unforeseen catastrophe
- 2
Not expected.
noun
- 1
An event, incident, cost, etc. that was not foreseen.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Unforeseen in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | imprévu , inattendu |
| German | unvorhergesehen , unerwartet |
| Portuguese | imprevisto |
| Spanish | imprevisto, no antevisto |
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 unforeseen come from?
From un- + foreseen.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).