wakefulness

/ˈweɪk.fʊl.nəs/

//ˈweɪk.fʊl.nəs// noun

"wakefulness" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“wakefulness” is uncommon English (frequency #62,608 among 1,759 “W” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#62,608
frequency rank, English
1,759
“W” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The state of being wakeful.

Corpus desk

Index EN-wakefulness · wakefulness · English

wakefulness · rank #62,608 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #62,608
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,759
  • PHOTO-FINISH Walworth

Nearest frequency peer: Walworth (+1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “wakefulness”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “wakefulness” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for wakefulness
PropertyValue
Headwordwakefulness
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈweɪk.fʊl.nəs/
Letters11
Frequency rank#62,608
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “wakefulness” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).wakefulnessfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “Walworth” (#62,609), “Wareham” (#62,611), “Vesey” (#62,603). Among 1,759 “W” headwords, “wakefulness” is #62,608. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

wakefulness is uncommon English at frequency #62,608 among 1,759 “W” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈweɪk.fʊl.nəs/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The state of being wakeful.".

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for wakefulness, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Etymologically, the entry records: From wakeful + -ness. The correct English form is wakefulness, spelled W-A-K-E-F-U-L-N-E-S-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    The state of being wakeful.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how wakefulness appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Similarly, the brain-penetrating Hrh2 antagonist zolantidine had no effect on light-induced phase shift as shown for hamsters, or the lengths or distributions of NREM, REM and wakefulness states as shown on rats.

Etymology

From wakeful + -ness.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "wakefulness"?
"wakefulness" is spelled W-A-K-E-F-U-L-N-E-S-S. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈweɪk.fʊl.nəs/.
What does "wakefulness" mean?
As a noun, "wakefulness" means: The state of being wakeful.
How do you pronounce "wakefulness"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "wakefulness" is /ˈweɪk.fʊl.nəs/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "wakefulness"?
From wakeful + -ness. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "wakefulness", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list