unlawful
adjective
unlawful is spelled U-N-L-A-W-F-U-L: 8 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 5.2 times per million words in written English, the 10,843rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, unlawful means “Prohibited; not permitted by law (either civil or criminal law; see illegal)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in unlawful?
| Letters | 8: U-N-L-A-W-F-U-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 5.2 times per million words; the 10,843rd 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 unlawful?
Unlawful appears 5.2 times per million words in written English, the 10,843rd 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 unlawful?
- US
Unlawful has 3 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)-Vininn126-unlawful.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of unlawful
- more unlawful comparative
- most unlawful superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does unlawful mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Prohibited; not permitted by law (either civil or criminal law; see illegal)
He was charged with unlawful use of a car.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Unlawful in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense prohibited; not permitted by law (either civil or criminal law):
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | illégal |
| German | gesetzeswidrig, gesetzwidrig, ungesetzlich, illegal |
| Spanish | ilegal |
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 unlawful come from?
From Middle English unlawful; equivalent to un- + lawful.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).