unworkable
adjective, noun
unworkable is spelled U-N-W-O-R-K-A-B-L-E: 10 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 45,363rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, unworkable means “Not operable; not practical; unmanageable” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in unworkable?
| Letters | 10: U-N-W-O-R-K-A-B-L-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 45,363rd 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 unworkable?
Unworkable appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 45,363rd 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 unworkable?
- US
Unworkable 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)-Flame,_not_lame-unworkable.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of unworkable
- more unworkable comparative
- most unworkable superlative
- unworkables plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does unworkable mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Not operable; not practical; unmanageable.
Near-synonyms: infeasible, untenable, unusable
- 2
Not suitable or amenable for being manipulated or transformed.
Near-synonyms: unprocessable, unusable
noun
- 1
Something that is not workable, or cannot be made to work.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Unworkable in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense not workable:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | inexécutable |
| Spanish | inviable, irrealizable, inhacedero, no factible |
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 unworkable come from?
From un- + workable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).