unwisely
adverb
unwisely is spelled U-N-W-I-S-E-L-Y: 8 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 60,074th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adverb, unwisely means “In an unwise manner; foolishly” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in unwisely?
| Letters | 8: U-N-W-I-S-E-L-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 4 million words; the 60,074th 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 unwisely?
Unwisely appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 60,074th 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 unwisely?
Unwisely 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).
Forms of unwisely
- more unwisely comparative
- most unwisely superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does unwisely mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adverb
- 1
In an unwise manner; foolishly.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Unwisely in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense in an unwise manner:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | imprudemment |
| Portuguese | insensatamente |
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 unwisely come from?
From Middle English vnwysely, vnwisely, vnwyseliche, from Old English unwīslīċe (“unwisely, foolish”), equivalent to un- + wisely.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).