additive
/ˈæd.ɪ.tɪv/
"additive" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“additive” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #18,746 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #18,746
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 4
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Pertaining to addition; that can be, or has been, added.
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 | additive |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈæd.ɪ.tɪv/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #18,746 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 4 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “additive” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for additive is 8 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈæd.ɪ.tɪv/. Corpus data places it at rank #18,746 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for additive, with forms such as "addiitve", "additiev", and "additivve". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 4 confusable-pair relationships, "adoptive", "addition", "adaptive", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Late Latin additivus, from the participial stem of Latin addere (“to add”). The correct English form is additive, spelled A-D-D-I-T-I-V-E.
Definition
- 1Pertaining to addition; that can be, or has been, added.
- 2That is distributive over addition.
- 3Whose operator is identified as addition.
- 4Pertaining to chemical addition.
- 5Of or pertaining to genes (or the interaction etc. of such genes) which govern the same trait and whose effects work together on the phenotype.
Etymology
From Late Latin additivus, from the participial stem of Latin addere (“to add”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: addiitve,additiev,additivve,addittive,additvie,addtiive,adidtive,aditive,daditive
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of additive - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “additive”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is A-D-D-I-T-I-V-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈæd.ɪ.tɪv/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “adoptive” - see the side-by-side comparison. additive vs adoptive
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.