allusive
/əˈluː.sɪv/
"allusive" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“allusive” is uncommon English (frequency #92,328 among 3,931 “A” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #92,328
- frequency rank, English
- 3,931
- “A” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - that contains or makes use of allusions (indirect references or hints)
Corpus desk
Index EN-allusive · allusive · English
allusive · rank #92,328 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #92,328
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,931
- PHOTO-FINISH allosteric
Nearest frequency peer: allosteric (-2 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.
Long-tail ranks near “allusive”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- Alleghany
Alleghany
7,678 corpus weight
- allelic
allelic
7,677 corpus weight
- allosteric
allosteric
7,675 corpus weight
- allusive
allusive
7,673 corpus weight
- ambassadors…
ambassadorship
7,670 corpus weight
- amiably
amiably
7,669 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “allusive” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | allusive |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /əˈluː.sɪv/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #92,328 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “allusive” in English
Rare enough to double-check
allusive is uncommon English at frequency #92,328 among 3,931 “A” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /əˈluː.sɪv/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "that contains or makes use of allusions (indirect references or hints)".
allusive doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin allūs-, past participle stem of allūdere (“to joke, jest”; see allude) + -ive. The correct English form is allusive, spelled A-L-L-U-S-I-V-E.
Definition
- 1that contains or makes use of allusions (indirect references or hints)
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how allusive appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
English poetry is compelled by the stubbornness of the language continually to renounce the too obviously poetic: but in seeking to be more precise, more dense and more allusive, Russian poetry has never had to give up the straightforward traditional intoxications of sound and rhyme.
The footnotes ensure that the lines become more allusive and more polysemantic, vacillating between transubstantiation and ghostly intimations.
Etymology
From Latin allūs-, past participle stem of allūdere (“to joke, jest”; see allude) + -ive.
This word in other languages
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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "allusive", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).