Which to use
“impulsive” is an adjective and “impulsively” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #20,389
- “impulsive” frequency rank
- #45,445
- “impulsively” frequency rank
- 65834
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | impulsive | impulsively |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Having the power of driving or impelling; giving an impulse; moving; impellent. | In an impulsive manner; with force; by impulse. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set impulsive and impulsively apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: impulsive is /ɪmˈpʌlsɪv/ while impulsively is /ɪmˈpʌlsɪvli/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “impulsive” sits inside “impulsively”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65834, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
impulsive is recorded at frequency rank #20,389, classified as anadj, pronounced /ɪmˈpʌlsɪv/. impulsively is at rank #45,445, tagged as anadv, pronounced /ɪmˈpʌlsɪvli/.
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 65834, this pair ranks #70,842 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of impulsive vs impulsively
Shared letters: eilmpsuv. Private to "impulsive": -. Private to "impulsively": y.
"impulsive" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCV · "impulsively" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- impulsive ← immpulsive · implusive · imppulsive · impulisve · impullsive · impulsiev · impulsivve · impulssive
- impulsively ← immpulsively · implusively · imppulsively · impulisvely · impullsively · impulsievly · impulsivelly · impulsivelyy
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "impulsive" and "impulsively" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "impulsive" or "impulsively"?
Remembering impulsive vs impulsively
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “impulsive”; for an adverb, it's “impulsively”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “impulsive” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable