unpromising
adjective, verb
unpromising is spelled U-N-P-R-O-M-I-S-I-N-G: 11 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 8 million words in written English, the 82,325th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, unpromising means “Not promising” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in unpromising?
| Letters | 11: U-N-P-R-O-M-I-S-I-N-G |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 8 million words; the 82,325th 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 unpromising?
Unpromising appears about once in every 8 million words in written English, the 82,325th 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 unpromising?
Unpromising 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).
Forms of unpromising
- more unpromising comparative
- most unpromising superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does unpromising mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Not promising.
verb
- 1
present participle and gerund of unpromise
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Unpromising in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense not promising:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| Spanish | poco atractivo, poco prometedor |
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 unpromising come from?
From un- + promising.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).