unwitting
adjective
unwitting is spelled U-N-W-I-T-T-I-N-G: 9 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 44,209th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, unwitting means “Unaware or uninformed; oblivious” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in unwitting?
| Letters | 9: U-N-W-I-T-T-I-N-G |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 44,209th 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 unwitting?
Unwitting appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 44,209th 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 unwitting?
Unwitting 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 unwitting
- more unwitting comparative
- most unwitting superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does unwitting mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Unaware or uninformed; oblivious.
- 2
Unintentional.
(transl.) 4th century BC, Plato, Sophist, 230a Some people, apparently, have thought about it and reached the conclusion that every case of being misinformed is unwitting.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Unwitting in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | inconscient, inattention , involontaire, par inadvertance |
| German | unwissentlich , unabsichtlich |
| Portuguese | inconsciente , involuntário |
| Spanish | ignorante, inconsciente , involuntario |
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 unwitting come from?
From Middle English unwittinge, unwitand, from Old English unwitende (“unwitting; not knowing; unaware; unconscious”), from Proto-Germanic *unwitandz (“not knowing”), equivalent to un- + witting. Cognate with West Frisian ûnwittend, Dutch onwetend, German Low German unwetend, German unwissend and unwissentlich, Icelandic óvitandi.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).