acquisitive
/əˈkwɪzətɪv/adjective
acquisitive is spelled A-C-Q-U-I-S-I-T-I-V-E: 11 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 7 million words in written English, the 77,666th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, acquisitive means “Able or disposed to make acquisitions; acquiring, greedy” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in acquisitive?
| Letters | 11: A-C-Q-U-I-S-I-T-I-V-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 7 million words; the 77,666th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is acquisitive?
Acquisitive appears about once in every 7 million words in written English, the 77,666th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce acquisitive?
- /əˈkwɪzətɪv/
Acquisitive has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-acquisitive.oga, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of acquisitive
- more acquisitive comparative
- most acquisitive superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does acquisitive mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
obsoleteAcquired.
- 2
Able or disposed to make acquisitions; acquiring, greedy.
He is an acquisitive person.
- 3
Dispositioned toward acquiring and retaining information.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Acquisitive in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense able to make acquisitions:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| Portuguese | aquisitivo |
| Spanish | adquisitivo, codicioso |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does acquisitive come from?
From an alteration of Latin acquisītus (“acquired, gained”), or possibly from acquisite + -ive.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).