unpleasantness

/ʌnˈplɛz.ənt.nəs/

//ʌnˈplɛz.ənt.nəs// noun

"unpleasantness" is a 14-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“unpleasantness” is uncommon English (frequency #52,072 among 1,433 “U” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#52,072
frequency rank, English
1,433
“U” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The property of being unpleasant or disagreeable.

Corpus desk

Index EN-unpleasantness · unpleasantness · English

unpleasantness · rank #52,072 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #52,072
  • LEN-MEGA 14 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,433
  • PHOTO-FINISH unleaded

Nearest frequency peer: unleaded (-1 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 “unpleasantness”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for unpleasantness
PropertyValue
Headwordunpleasantness
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ʌnˈplɛz.ənt.nəs/
Letters14
Frequency rank#52,072
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “unpleasantness” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).unpleasantnessfalls 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: “unleaded” (#52,071), “unrivaled” (#52,073), “unhurt” (#52,070). Among 1,433 “U” headwords, “unpleasantness” is #52,072. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

unpleasantness is uncommon English at frequency #52,072 among 1,433 “U” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ʌnˈplɛz.ənt.nəs/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

No misspelling variants are generated for unpleasantness in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

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

Definition

  1. 1
    The property of being unpleasant or disagreeable.
  2. 2
    An unpleasant behaviour, occurrence, etc.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Given the behaviour of the members, who do normally come to Lord’s, this seemed a bizarre attempt to offload the unpleasantness on hoi polloi taking advantage of some rare £25 tickets.
  2. Perhaps you are not so much aware as I am, of the mischief that may, of the unpleasantnesses that must, arise from a young man’s being received in this manner—domesticated among us—authorized to come at all hours—and placed suddenly on a footing which must do away all restraints.

Etymology

From unpleasant + -ness.

Antonyms

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 "unpleasantness"?
"unpleasantness" is spelled U-N-P-L-E-A-S-A-N-T-N-E-S-S. The IPA pronunciation is /ʌnˈplɛz.ənt.nəs/.
What does "unpleasantness" mean?
As a noun, "unpleasantness" means: The property of being unpleasant or disagreeable.
How do you pronounce "unpleasantness"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "unpleasantness" is /ʌnˈplɛz.ənt.nəs/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "unpleasantness"?
From unpleasant + -ness. 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 "unpleasantness", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 14 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list