unpleasantly

adv

"unpleasantly" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“unpleasantly” is uncommon English (frequency #64,096 among 1,433 “U” headwords), classed as an adverb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#64,096
frequency rank, English
1,433
“U” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - In an unpleasant manner.

Corpus desk

Index EN-unpleasantly · unpleasantly · English

unpleasantly · rank #64,096 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #64,096
  • LEN-MEGA 12 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,433
  • PHOTO-FINISH Uruk

Nearest frequency peer: Uruk (+2 rank slots)

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.

Long-tail ranks near “unpleasantly”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “unpleasantly” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for unpleasantly
PropertyValue
Headwordunpleasantly
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdverb
Letters12
Frequency rank#64,096
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “unpleasantly” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).unpleasantlyfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “Uruk” (#64,098), “unimaginably” (#64,093), “undefended” (#64,092). Among 1,433 “U” headwords, “unpleasantly” is #64,096. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

unpleasantly is uncommon English at frequency #64,096 among 1,433 “U” headwords, classed as anadverb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "In an unpleasant manner.".

Zero misspellings are on record for unpleasantly in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From unpleasant + -ly. The correct English form is unpleasantly, spelled U-N-P-L-E-A-S-A-N-T-L-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    In an unpleasant manner.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. The sinister face of Dr. Bauerstein recurred to me unpleasantly. A vague suspicion of everyone and everything filled my mind. Just for a moment I had a premonition of approaching evil.

Etymology

From unpleasant + -ly.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "unpleasantly"?
"unpleasantly" is spelled U-N-P-L-E-A-S-A-N-T-L-Y.
What does "unpleasantly" mean?
As an adverb, "unpleasantly" means: In an unpleasant manner.
What is the origin of the word "unpleasantly"?
From unpleasant + -ly. 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "unpleasantly", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 12 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list