Which to use
“obstruction” is a noun and “obstructive” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #13,968
- “obstruction” frequency rank
- #30,515
- “obstructive” frequency rank
- 44483
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | obstruction | obstructive |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The act of obstructing, or state of being obstructed. | Causing obstructions. |
Where the eye mixes obstruction and obstructive
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses obstruction with obstructive
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: obstruction is /əbˈstɹʌk.ʃən/ while obstructive is /əbˈstɹʌk.tɪv/. 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 44483, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
obstruction is recorded at frequency rank #13,968, classified as anoun, pronounced /əbˈstɹʌk.ʃən/. obstructive is at rank #30,515, tagged as anadj, pronounced /əbˈstɹʌk.tɪv/.
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 44483, this pair ranks #230,108 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of obstruction vs obstructive
Shared letters: bciorstu. Private to "obstruction": n. Private to "obstructive": ev.
"obstruction" · 11 letters · shape VCCCCVCCVVC · "obstructive" · 11 letters · shape VCCCCVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- obstruction ← bostruction · obbstruction · obsrtuction · obsstruction · obstrcution · obstrruction · obstrucction · obstruciton
- obstructive ← bostructive · obbstructive · obsrtuctive · obsstructive · obstrcutive · obstrructive · obstrucctive · obstrucitve
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "obstruction" for "obstructive" ever safe?
Frequency check: "obstruction" vs "obstructive" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "obstruction" and "obstructive" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "obstruction" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "obstructive" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #230,108 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- 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 #230,108 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.