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attractive

/əˈtɹæktɪv/adjective

attractive is spelled A-T-T-R-A-C-T-I-V-E: 10 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 34 times per million words in written English, the 2,831st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, attractive means “Causing attraction; having the quality of attracting by inherent force” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in attractive?

Letters10: A-T-T-R-A-C-T-I-V-E
Syllables3 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing34 times per million words; the 2,831st most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone 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 attractive?

Attractive appears 34 times per million words in written English, the 2,831st 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 attractive?

  • /əˈtɹæktɪv/

Attractive 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-attractive.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of attractive

  • more attractive comparative
  • most attractive superlative

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does attractive mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    Causing attraction; having the quality of attracting by inherent force.

  2. 2

    Having the power of charming or alluring by agreeable qualities; enticing.

    That's a very attractive offer.

  3. 3

    Pleasing or appealing to the senses, especially of a potential romantic partner.

    He is an attractive fellow with a trim figure.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you abbreviate attractive?

Wiktionary records one abbreviation of attractive: attr.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Attractive in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchattractif (having the quality of attracting by inherent…), attrayant, sympathique (having the power of charming)
Germananziehend (having the quality of attracting by inherent…), attraktiv (having the power of charming), schön (pleasing or appealing to the senses)
Portugueseatrativo, atrator (having the quality of attracting by inherent…), atraente (having the power of charming)
Spanishatractivo (having the quality of attracting by inherent…), atrayente (pleasing or appealing to the senses)

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 attractive come from?

From Middle French attractif, from Late Latin attractīvus, equivalent to attract + -ive.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after attractive