abrasive
/əˈbɹeɪ.sɪv/
"abrasive" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“abrasive” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #21,713. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #21,713
- frequency rank, English
- 3,931
- “A” headwords
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 2, 2026) - Producing abrasion; rough enough to wear away the outer surface.
Corpus desk
Index EN-abrasive · abrasive · English
abrasive · rank #21,713 · 11 variants · 2 confusables
- FREQ-MID #21,713
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-LOW 2 pairs
- VAR-MID 11 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,931
- PHOTO-FINISH accompaniment
Nearest frequency peer: accompaniment (+1 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Frequency neighbourhood for “abrasive”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- WTO
WTO
78,292 corpus weight
- y'know
y'know
78,291 corpus weight
- abrasive
abrasive
78,288 corpus weight
- accompanime…
accompaniment
78,287 corpus weight
- accomplice
accomplice
78,286 corpus weight
- adoptive
adoptive
78,285 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “abrasive” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | abrasive |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /əˈbɹeɪ.sɪv/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #21,713 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “abrasive” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 11 spelling variants around abrasive (IPA /əˈbɹeɪ.sɪv/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #21,713 among 3,931 “A” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for abrasive, with forms such as "abarsive", "abbrasive", and "abraisve". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "abusive", "abrasion", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Medieval Latin abrāsīvus The correct English form is abrasive, spelled A-B-R-A-S-I-V-E.
Definition
- 1Producing abrasion; rough enough to wear away the outer surface.
- 2Being rough and coarse in manner or disposition; overly aggressive and causing irritation.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how abrasive appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
An abrasive person can grate on one's sensibilities.
Despite her proper upbringing, we found her manners to be terribly abrasive.
Etymology
From Medieval Latin abrāsīvus
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- abarsive
- abbrasive
- abraisve
- abrasiev
- abrasivve
- abrassive
- abrasvie
- abrrasive
- abrsaive
- arbasive
- barasive
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of abrasive - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 2, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "abrasive"?
What does "abrasive" mean?
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "abrasive", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.