untenable
adjective
untenable is spelled U-N-T-E-N-A-B-L-E: 9 letters and 4 syllables. It appears 1.0 times per million words in written English, the 28,556th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, untenable means “Not able to be held or sustained, such as of an opinion or position” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in untenable?
| Letters | 9: U-N-T-E-N-A-B-L-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.0 times per million words; the 28,556th 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 untenable?
Untenable appears 1.0 times per million words in written English, the 28,556th 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 untenable?
Untenable 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Grendelkhan-untenable.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of untenable
- more untenable comparative
- most untenable superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does untenable mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Not able to be held or sustained, such as of an opinion or position.
The theory of cold fusion was untenable.
- 2
Unfit for habitation.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Untenable in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | intenable, insoutenable |
| German | unhaltbar, unvertretbar , unwirtlich, unbewohnbar |
| Portuguese | insustentável |
| Spanish | insostenible, indefendible , inhabitable |
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 untenable come from?
From un- + tenable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).