unsafe
/ʌnˈseɪf/adjective, verb
unsafe is spelled U-N-S-A-F-E: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 4.7 times per million words in written English, the 11,685th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, unsafe means “Not safe (various senses); dangerous” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in unsafe?
| Letters | 6: U-N-S-A-F-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 4.7 times per million words; the 11,685th 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 unsafe?
Unsafe appears 4.7 times per million words in written English, the 11,685th 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 unsafe?
- /ʌnˈseɪf/
Unsafe has 2 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-unsafe.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of unsafe
- more unsafe comparative
- unsafer comparative
- most unsafe superlative
- unsafest superlative
- unsafes present, singular, he/she/it
- unsafing participle, present
- unsafed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does unsafe mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Not safe (various senses); dangerous.
verb
- 1
To remove the safety from (a weapon).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Unsafe in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense not safe:
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 unsafe come from?
From un- (not) + safe.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).