unwary
adjective
unwary is spelled U-N-W-A-R-Y: 6 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 64,400th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, unwary means “Lacking caution as a result of naïveté or inexperience” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in unwary?
| Letters | 6: U-N-W-A-R-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 5 million words; the 64,400th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is unwary?
Unwary appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 64,400th 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 unwary?
Unwary has 3 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).
What rhymes with unwary?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as unwary.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: runway.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of unwary
- unwarier comparative
- unwariest superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does unwary mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Lacking caution as a result of naïveté or inexperience.
- 2
Unprepared; not watchful.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Unwary in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense lacking caution:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | unbedarft, unachtsam, unvorsichtig |
| Spanish | incauto |
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 unwary come from?
From un- + wary. Compare Old English unwær (“unaware, unwary”) and unwærlīċ (“unwary, heedless”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).