bioactive

adj

"bioactive" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“bioactive” is uncommon English (frequency #61,315 among 31,241 “B” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#61,315
frequency rank, English
31,241
“B” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Biologically active; having a biological effect.

Key facts for bioactive
PropertyValue
Headwordbioactive
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
Letters9
Frequency rank#61,315
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “bioactive” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). bioactive lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

bioactive is uncommon English at frequency #61,315 among 31,241 “B” headwords, classed as anadjective. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

bioactive doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From bio- + active. The correct English form is bioactive, spelled B-I-O-A-C-T-I-V-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Biologically active; having a biological effect.
  2. 2
    Describing a terrarium, vivarium, etc. that is self-sustaining and mimics a natural habitat.

Etymology

From bio- + active.

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

How do you spell "bioactive"?
"bioactive" is spelled B-I-O-A-C-T-I-V-E.
What does "bioactive" mean?
As an adjective, "bioactive" means: Biologically active; having a biological effect.
What is the origin of the word "bioactive"?
From bio- + active. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “bioactive”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is B-I-O-A-C-T-I-V-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Other uncommon English words near this rank

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.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list