unless
/ənˈlɛs/conjunction
unless is spelled U-N-L-E-S-S: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 95 times per million words in written English, the 1,125th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a conjunction, unless means “Except on a specified condition; if not” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in unless?
| Letters | 6: U-N-L-E-S-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 95 times per million words; the 1,125th 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 unless?
Unless appears 95 times per million words in written English, the 1,125th 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 unless?
- /ənˈlɛs/
- /ʌnˈlɛs/
- /ʊnˈlɛs/
Unless 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-unless.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-unless.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of unless
- unlesse
- unlessen
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does unless mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
conjunction
- 1
Except on a specified condition; if not.
I’m leaving unless I get a pay rise.
- 2
If not; used with counterfactual conditionals.
Who would know of Alexander or Caesar, or would respect the Stoics or the Peripatetics, unless they had been distinguished by the memorials of writers?
- 3
Except if; used with hypothetical conditionals.
Q. If Lieutenant P. had given the word "Fire," would you have fired, and at what?–A. I should not have known, unless he had told me what to fire at.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Unless in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense except on a specified condition:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | à moins que, sauf si |
| German | es sei denn |
| Portuguese | a menos que, a não ser que |
| Spanish | a menos que, a no ser que, salvo, como no |
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 unless come from?
From Middle English unlesse, earlier on lesse (modern on + less), from (not) on lesse (than) (“(not) on a less compelling condition (than)”). The quality of negation in the word and the lack of stress changed on to un-.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).