ungovernable
adjective
ungovernable is spelled U-N-G-O-V-E-R-N-A-B-L-E: 12 letters and 5 syllables. It appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 69,884th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, ungovernable means “Not governable; unable to be governed” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in ungovernable?
| Letters | 12: U-N-G-O-V-E-R-N-A-B-L-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 5 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 5 million words; the 69,884th 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 ungovernable?
Ungovernable appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 69,884th 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 ungovernable?
- US
Ungovernable has 5 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)-NaomiAmethyst-ungovernable.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of ungovernable
- more ungovernable comparative
- most ungovernable superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does ungovernable mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Not governable; unable to be governed.
- 2
Unable to be managed or controlled.
a man with an ungovernable temper
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Ungovernable in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense not governable:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | ingouvernable |
| German | unregierbar |
| Portuguese | ingovernável |
| Spanish | ingobernable |
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 ungovernable come from?
From un- + governable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).