apprehensive
/ˌæpɹɪˈhɛnsɪv/adjective, noun
apprehensive is spelled A-P-P-R-E-H-E-N-S-I-V-E. The wrong spelling people search most is aprehensive: about 180 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 22 of all searches for the word. Apprehensive is an adjective meaning “Anticipating something with anxiety, fear, or doubt; reluctant”.
How many letters and syllables are in apprehensive?
| Letters | 12: A-P-P-R-E-H-E-N-S-I-V-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.1 times per million words; the 27,820th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, aprehensive, about 180 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| 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 do you spell apprehensive?
Apprehensive is spelled A-P-P-R-E-H-E-N-S-I-V-E. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 22 of the searches for apprehensive in either form.
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). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is apprehensive?
Apprehensive appears 1.1 times per million words in written English, the 27,820th 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 apprehensive?
- US /ˌæpɹɪˈhɛnsɪv/
- Australia /ˌæpɹɪˈhensɪv/
Apprehensive 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-apprehensive.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with apprehensive?
7 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as apprehensive from its last stressed vowel (/ɛnsɪv/):
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 apprehensive
- more apprehensive comparative
- most apprehensive superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does apprehensive mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Anticipating something with anxiety, fear, or doubt; reluctant.
- 2
obsoletePerceptive; quick to learn; capable of understanding using one's intellect.
noun
- 1
A mood indicating an undesired outcome.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Apprehensive in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | soucieux, appréhensif, inquiet , vif, perspicace |
| German | besorgt, ängstlich, bedenklich, beklommen, voller Bedenken , gewieft |
| Portuguese | apreensivo, receoso |
| Spanish | aprensivo, inquieto , aprehensivo |
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 apprehensive come from?
From Latin apprehensīvus, from apprehensus, perfect passive participle of apprehendō (“to apprehend, understand, learn”) + -īvus (“-ive”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).