unforgiving
adjective, verb
unforgiving is spelled U-N-F-O-R-G-I-V-I-N-G: 11 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 30,789th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, unforgiving means “Unwilling or unable to forgive or show mercy” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in unforgiving?
| Letters | 11: U-N-F-O-R-G-I-V-I-N-G |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 30,789th 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 unforgiving?
Unforgiving appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 30,789th 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 unforgiving?
Unforgiving 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-unforgiving.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of unforgiving
- more unforgiving comparative
- most unforgiving superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does unforgiving mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Unwilling or unable to forgive or show mercy.
The electorate was in an unforgiving mood.
- 2
Having no allowance for error or weakness.
The unforgiving Arctic climate makes short work of the unprepared.
verb
- 1
present participle and gerund of unforgive
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Unforgiving in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense not forgiving:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | impitoyable, implacable |
| German | gnadenlos |
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 unforgiving come from?
From un- + forgiving.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).