witless
adjective
witless is spelled W-I-T-L-E-S-S: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 65,114th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, witless means “Lacking wit or understanding; foolish” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in witless?
| Letters | 7: W-I-T-L-E-S-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 5 million words; the 65,114th 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 witless?
Witless appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 65,114th 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 witless?
- US
Witless 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)-Flame,_not_lame-witless.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of witless
- more witless comparative
- most witless superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does witless mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Lacking wit or understanding; foolish.
- 2
Indiscreet; not using clear and sound judgment.
- 3
Mindless, lacking conscious thought or the capacity for it.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Witless in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense Without wit or understanding:
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 witless come from?
From Middle English witles, from Old English witlēas (“senseless; witless”), from Proto-Germanic *witjalausaz (“witless”), equivalent to wit + -less. Cognate with Swedish vettlös (“senseless; witless; wild”), Icelandic vitlaus (“senseless; witless; foolish; mad”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).