unprincipled
/ʌnˈpɹɪnsɪpəld/adjective
unprincipled is spelled U-N-P-R-I-N-C-I-P-L-E-D: 12 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 66,686th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, unprincipled means “Lacking moral values” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in unprincipled?
| Letters | 12: U-N-P-R-I-N-C-I-P-L-E-D |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 5 million words; the 66,686th 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 unprincipled?
Unprincipled appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 66,686th 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 unprincipled?
- US /ʌnˈpɹɪnsɪpəld/
Unprincipled has 4 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-unprincipled.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of unprincipled
- more unprincipled comparative
- most unprincipled superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does unprincipled mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Lacking moral values.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Unprincipled in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense lacking moral values:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | dénué de principes, sans scrupule, amoral |
| German | gewissenlos, prinzipienlos, prinzipienfrei |
| Spanish | sin escrúpulos, inescrupuloso, ímprobo, de moral relajada, inmoral, sinvergüenza |
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 unprincipled come from?
From un- + principled.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).