Which to use
“intensity” is a noun and “intensive” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,697
- “intensity” frequency rank
- #6,485
- “intensive” frequency rank
- 12182
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | intensity | intensive |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The quality of being intense. | Done with intensity or to a great degree; thorough. |
Where the eye mixes intensity and intensive
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: intensity vs intensive
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: intensity is /ɪnˈtɛnsɪti/ while intensive is /ɪnˈtɛnsɪv/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12182, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
intensity is recorded at frequency rank #5,697, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɪnˈtɛnsɪti/. intensive is at rank #6,485, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ɪnˈtɛnsɪv/.
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 12182, this pair ranks #482,990 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of intensity vs intensive
Shared letters: einst. Private to "intensity": y. Private to "intensive": v.
"intensity" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCV · "intensive" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "intensity" for "intensive" ever safe?
Which is more common, "intensity" or "intensive"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "intensity" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "intensive" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #482,990 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "intensity" and "intensive" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "intensity vs intercity". 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 #482,990 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.