unheard
/ʌnˈhɜː(ɹ)d/adjective, verb
unheard is spelled U-N-H-E-A-R-D: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 2.3 times per million words in written English, the 17,813th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, unheard means “Not heard” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in unheard?
| Letters | 7: U-N-H-E-A-R-D |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.3 times per million words; the 17,813th 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 unheard?
Unheard appears 2.3 times per million words in written English, the 17,813th 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 unheard?
- /ʌnˈhɜː(ɹ)d/
Unheard has 2 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-unheard.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What does unheard mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Not heard.
Her cries for help remained unheard.
- 2
Not listened to.
There are no "bad" emotions; rather, there are only heard emotions and unheard emotions.
- 3
Not known to fame; not illustrious or celebrated; obscure.
verb
- 1
simple past and past participle of unhear
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Unheard in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense not heard:
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 unheard come from?
From Middle English unherd, unherde, from Old English unġehīered (“unheard”), equivalent to un- + heard. Cognate with West Frisian ûnheard (“unheard”), Dutch ongehoord (“unheard”), German ungehört (“unheard”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).