unwise
/ʌnˈwaɪz/adjective
unwise is spelled U-N-W-I-S-E: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 1.2 times per million words in written English, the 25,751st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, unwise means “Not wise; lacking wisdom” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in unwise?
| Letters | 6: U-N-W-I-S-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.2 times per million words; the 25,751st 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 unwise?
Unwise appears 1.2 times per million words in written English, the 25,751st 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 unwise?
- /ʌnˈwaɪz/
Unwise 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-unwise.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of unwise
- unwiser comparative
- unwisest superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does unwise mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Not wise; lacking wisdom
unwise man
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Unwise in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense not wise:
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 unwise come from?
From Middle English unwis, from Old English unwīs (“unwise, foolish, ignorant, uninformed, insane”), equivalent to un- + wise. Cognate with Dutch onwijs (“unwise”), German unweise (“unwise”), Danish uvis (“unwise”), Swedish ovis (“unwise”), Icelandic óvís (“unwise”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).