allusive
/əˈluː.sɪv/adjective
allusive is spelled A-L-L-U-S-I-V-E: 8 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 10 million words in written English, the 92,628th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “allusive vs elusive” about 720 times a month (Google, United States). As an adjective, allusive means “that contains or makes use of allusions (indirect references or hints)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in allusive?
| Letters | 8: A-L-L-U-S-I-V-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 10 million words; the 92,628th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Rhymes with |
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); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is allusive?
Allusive appears about once in every 10 million words in written English, the 92,628th 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 allusive?
- UK /əˈluː.sɪv/
- UK /əˈljuː.sɪv/
- US /əˈluː.sɪv/
Allusive has 3 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-allusive.oga, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with allusive
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with allusive?
7 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as allusive from its last stressed vowel (/usɪv/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of allusive
- more allusive comparative
- most allusive superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does allusive mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
that contains or makes use of allusions (indirect references or hints)
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Allusive in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense containing or making use of allusions:
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 allusive come from?
From Latin allūs-, past participle stem of allūdere (“to joke, jest”; see allude) + -ive. See also al-.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).