unknown
/ʌnˈnoʊn/adjective, noun, verb
unknown is spelled U-N-K-N-O-W-N. The wrong spelling people search most is unkown: about 370 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 14 of all searches for the word. Unknown is an adjective meaning “Not known; unidentified; not well known”.
How many letters and syllables are in unknown?
| Letters | 7: U-N-K-N-O-W-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 34 times per million words; the 2,831st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 2; the most searched, unkown, about 370 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Rhymes with |
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); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How do you spell unknown?
Unknown is spelled U-N-K-N-O-W-N. 2 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 12 of the searches for unknown in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is unknown?
Unknown appears 34 times per million words in written English, the 2,831st 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 unknown?
- UK /ʌn(ˈn)əʊn/
- US /ʌnˈnoʊn/
Unknown 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: En-us-unknown.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with unknown?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as unknown from its last stressed vowel (/oʊn/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of unknown
- more unknown comparative
- most unknown superlative
- unknowns plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does unknown mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Not known; unidentified; not well known.
The concept has existed since times unknown.
noun
- 1
A variable (usually x, y or z) whose value is to be found.
- 2
Any thing, place, or situation about which nothing is known; an unknown fact or piece of information.
- 3
A person of no identity; a nonentity.
verb
- 1
past participle of unknow
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate unknown?
Wiktionary records 2 abbreviations of unknown: unk., unkn..
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Unknown in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | inconnu , inconnue |
| German | unbekannt , Unbekannte , Unbekannter |
| Portuguese | desconhecido , incógnita |
| Spanish | ignoto, desconocido , incógnita |
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 unknown come from?
From Middle English *unknowen, *uniknowen, uniknowe, from Old English unġecnāwen (“unknown”), equivalent to un- + known.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).