Which to use
“intensive” and “intrusive” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,485
- “intensive” frequency rank
- #18,861
- “intrusive” frequency rank
- 25346
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | intensive | intrusive |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Done with intensity or to a great degree; thorough. | Tending to intrude; doing that which is not welcome; interrupting or disturbing; entering without permission or welcome. |
Where the eye mixes intensive and intrusive
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. intensive (VCCVCCVCV) and intrusive (VCCCVCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between intensive and intrusive
A purely visual mix-up. intensive (/ɪnˈtɛnsɪv/) and intrusive (/ɪnˈtɹuːsɪv/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25346, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
intensive is recorded at frequency rank #6,485, classified as anadj, pronounced /ɪnˈtɛnsɪv/. intrusive is at rank #18,861, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ɪnˈtɹuːsɪv/.
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 25346, this pair ranks #394,988 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of intensive vs intrusive
Shared letters: einstv. Private to "intensive": -. Private to "intrusive": ru.
"intensive" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCV · "intrusive" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "intensive" for "intrusive" ever safe?
Frequency check: "intensive" vs "intrusive" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "intensive" and "intrusive" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "intensive" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "intrusive" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #394,988 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "intensive" and "intrusive" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "intensive vs intensively". 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 #394,988 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.