ungood

/ˌʌnˈɡʊd/

//ˌʌnˈɡʊd// adj

"ungood" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“ungood” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
6
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Not good; bad.

Corpus desk

Index EN-ungood · ungood · English

ungood · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "U" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for ungood
PropertyValue
Headwordungood
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˌʌnˈɡʊd/
Letters6
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “ungood” in English

ungoodfalls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

ungood is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˌʌnˈɡʊd/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Zero misspellings are on record for ungood in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English ungod, from Old English ungōd, equivalent to un- (“not”) + good (adjective). Popularised by its appearance in Newspeak, a fictional language coined in Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), a dystopian novel by George Orwell. The correct English form is ungood, spelled U-N-G-O-O-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    Not good; bad.
  2. 2
    Those who are not good; the wicked, evil, or bad.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how ungood appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. An unjust judge, as one well observes, is a cold fire, a dark sun, a dry sea, a mare mortuum, an ungood god, contradictio in adjecto, monsters, not men, much less gods.
  2. Now to make a short story shorter, we all know this is very ungood for a new motor and I do not want to thank the person or persons who unwittingly left their fingerprints, of which I have photostatic copies, so that might detect the presence of graphite before staring the motor.

Etymology

From Middle English ungod, from Old English ungōd, equivalent to un- (“not”) + good (adjective). Popularised by its appearance in Newspeak, a fictional language coined in Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), a dystopian novel by George Orwell.

Synonyms

Antonyms

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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "ungood"?
"ungood" is spelled U-N-G-O-O-D. The IPA pronunciation is /ˌʌnˈɡʊd/.
What does "ungood" mean?
As an adjective, "ungood" means: Not good; bad.
How do you pronounce "ungood"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "ungood" is /ˌʌnˈɡʊd/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "ungood"?
From Middle English ungod, from Old English ungōd, equivalent to un- (“not”) + good (adjective). Popularised by its appearance in Newspeak, a fictional language coined in Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), a dystopian novel by George Orwell. 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list