unprovoked
un·pro·voked/ˌʌnpɹəˈvoʊkt/adjective, adverb, verb
unprovoked is spelled U-N-P-R-O-V-O-K-E-D: 10 letters and 3 syllables (un·pro·voked). It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 35,748th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, unprovoked means “Happening without provocation” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in unprovoked?
| Letters | 10: U-N-P-R-O-V-O-K-E-D |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: un·pro·voked |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 35,748th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is unprovoked?
Unprovoked appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 35,748th 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 unprovoked?
- /ˌʌnpɹəˈvoʊkt/
Unprovoked has 3 syllables, split un·pro·voked in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-unprovoked.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of unprovoked
- more unprovoked comparative
- most unprovoked superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does unprovoked mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Happening without provocation.
Near-synonym: unmotivated
adverb
- 1
Without provocation or motivation.
He attacked me, suddenly, unprovoked.
verb
- 1
simple past and past participle of unprovoke
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Unprovoked in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense without provocation:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | unprovoziert |
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 unprovoked come from?
From un- + provoked.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).