unhopeful

adj

"unhopeful" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

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

Unranked
below top-frequency English
9
letters

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

Corpus desk

Index EN-unhopeful · unhopeful · English

unhopeful · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 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 unhopeful
PropertyValue
Headwordunhopeful
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
Letters9
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “unhopeful” in English

unhopefulfalls 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

unhopeful is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Not hopeful.".

No misspelling variants are generated for unhopeful in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English unhopful, unhopfulle, equivalent to un- + hopeful. The correct English form is unhopeful, spelled U-N-H-O-P-E-F-U-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    Not hopeful.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. As a young man, his was a severe and unhopeful mind, and the tendency to despond was increased by circumstances.
  2. His pessimistic and unhopeful temperament was doubtless due to inherent and hereditary bodily weakness, and to the lack of muscular cultivation in his youth, which might have modified inherent tendencies.

Etymology

From Middle English unhopful, unhopfulle, equivalent to un- + hopeful.

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 "unhopeful"?
"unhopeful" is spelled U-N-H-O-P-E-F-U-L.
What does "unhopeful" mean?
As an adjective, "unhopeful" means: Not hopeful.
What is the origin of the word "unhopeful"?
From Middle English unhopful, unhopfulle, equivalent to un- + hopeful. 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