unspeakable
adjective, noun
unspeakable is spelled U-N-S-P-E-A-K-A-B-L-E: 11 letters and 4 syllables. It appears 1.3 times per million words in written English, the 24,745th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, unspeakable means “Incapable of being spoken or uttered” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in unspeakable?
| Letters | 11: U-N-S-P-E-A-K-A-B-L-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.3 times per million words; the 24,745th 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 unspeakable?
Unspeakable appears 1.3 times per million words in written English, the 24,745th 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 unspeakable?
- US
Unspeakable 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-unspeakable.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of unspeakable
- more unspeakable comparative
- most unspeakable superlative
- unspeakables plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does unspeakable mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Incapable of being spoken or uttered.
- 2
Impossible to speak about.
- 3
Unfit or not permitted to be spoken or described.
- 4
Extremely bad or objectionable.
an unspeakable fool
- 5
That cannot be referenced in source code, due to having no usable name.
an instance of an unspeakable type
noun
- 1
Something that cannot or must not be spoken about.
Near-synonym: unthinkable
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Unspeakable in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | indicible , innommable , inqualifiable |
| German | unsäglich |
| Portuguese | indizível |
| Spanish | indecible |
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 unspeakable come from?
From Middle English unspekable, equivalent to un- + speakable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).