detective
/dɪˈtɛktɪv/
"detective" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“detective” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #5,025 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #5,025
- frequency rank, English
- 9
- letters
- 13
- tracked misspellings
- 6
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A police officer tasked with collecting evidence and information in order to solve a crime; an investigator.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | detective |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /dɪˈtɛktɪv/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #5,025 |
| Misspellings tracked | 13 |
| Confusable pairs | 6 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “detective” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for detective is 9 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /dɪˈtɛktɪv/. Corpus data places it at rank #5,025 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for detective, with forms such as "ddetective", "deetctive", and "detcetive". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 6 confusable-pair relationships, "directive", "detection", "defective", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: The adjective is from Classical Latin dētēct-, past participial stem of dētegō (“to detect”), + -ive. The noun is an ellipsis of detective policeman, detective officer, or a similar construction. The correct English form is detective, spelled D-E-T-E-C-T-I-V-E.
Definition
- 1A police officer tasked with collecting evidence and information in order to solve a crime; an investigator.
- 2A person employed to find information not otherwise available to the public.
Etymology
The adjective is from Classical Latin dētēct-, past participial stem of dētegō (“to detect”), + -ive. The noun is an ellipsis of detective policeman, detective officer, or a similar construction.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ddetective,deetctive,detcetive,detecctive,detecitve,detectiev,detectivve,detecttive,detectvie,detetcive,dettective,dteective,edtective
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of detective - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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 "detective"?
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Using “detective”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is D-E-T-E-C-T-I-V-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /dɪˈtɛktɪv/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “directive” - see the side-by-side comparison. detective vs directive
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.