Which to use
“extensive” is an adjective and “extensively” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,056
- “extensive” frequency rank
- #8,664
- “extensively” frequency rank
- 11720
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | extensive | extensively |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Having a great extent; covering a large area; vast. | In an extensive manner, widely. |
Where the eye mixes extensive and extensively
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses extensive with extensively
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: extensive is /ɪkˈstɛn.sɪv/ while extensively is /ɪkˈstɛn.sɪv.li/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “extensive” sits inside “extensively”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11720, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
extensive is recorded at frequency rank #3,056, classified as anadj, pronounced /ɪkˈstɛn.sɪv/. extensively is at rank #8,664, tagged as anadv, pronounced /ɪkˈstɛn.sɪv.li/.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 11720, this pair ranks #485,484 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of extensive vs extensively
Shared letters: einstvx. Private to "extensive": -. Private to "extensively": ly.
"extensive" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCV · "extensively" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- extensive ← etxensive · exetnsive · extenisve · extennsive · extensiev · extensivve · extenssive · extensvie
- extensively ← etxensively · exetnsively · extenisvely · extennsively · extensievly · extensivelly · extensivelyy · extensiveyl
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "extensive" for "extensively" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "extensive" or "extensively" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "extensive" and "extensively" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "extensive" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "extensively" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #485,484 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "extensive" and "extensively" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "extensible vs extensive". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #485,484 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.