corrective
/kəˈɹɛktɪv/adjective, noun
corrective is spelled C-O-R-R-E-C-T-I-V-E: 10 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 1.9 times per million words in written English, the 19,825th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, corrective means “Of or pertaining to correction; serving to correct” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in corrective?
| Letters | 10: C-O-R-R-E-C-T-I-V-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.9 times per million words; the 19,825th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in 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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is corrective?
Corrective appears 1.9 times per million words in written English, the 19,825th 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 corrective?
- US /kəˈɹɛktɪv/
- Australia /kəˈɹektɪv/
Corrective 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-corrective.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with corrective?
10 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as corrective from its last stressed vowel (/ɛktɪv/):
- perspective
- objective
- respective
- protective
- directive
- retrospective
- introspective
- overprotective
- imperfective
- surjective
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 corrective
- correctives plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does corrective mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Of or pertaining to correction; serving to correct.
As the currents were changing rapidly, the captain had to make many corrective course changes.
- 2
obsoleteQualifying; limiting.
noun
- 1
Something that corrects or counteracts something.
alkalies are correctives of acids
- 2
obsoleteLimitation; restriction.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Corrective in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense pertaining to correction:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | correcteur |
| Portuguese | corretivo, corretor |
| Spanish | correctivo |
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 corrective come from?
Borrowed from French correctif, equivalent to correct + -ive.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).