extensive
/ɪkˈstɛn.sɪv/adjective
extensive is spelled E-X-T-E-N-S-I-V-E: 9 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 31 times per million words in written English, the 3,052nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, extensive means “Having a great extent; covering a large area; vast” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in extensive?
| Letters | 9: E-X-T-E-N-S-I-V-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 31 times per million words; the 3,052nd 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 extensive?
Extensive appears 31 times per million words in written English, the 3,052nd 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 extensive?
- UK /ɪkˈstɛn.sɪv/
- US /ɪkˈstɛn.sɪv/
- US /ɛkˈstɛn.sɪv/
Extensive 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-extensive.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Wodencafe-extensive.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with extensive?
7 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as extensive 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 extensive
- more extensive comparative
- most extensive superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does extensive mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Having a great extent; covering a large area; vast.
- 2
Considerable in amount.
I have done extensive research on the subject.
- 3
Serving to extend or lengthen; characterized by extension.
- 4
Having a combined system entropy that equals the sum of the entropies of the independent systems.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Extensive in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense wide:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | étendu |
| German | umfangreich |
| Portuguese | extensivo |
| Spanish | extenso, extensivo, extendiente |
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 extensive come from?
From late Middle English, borrowed from Late Latin extensīvus, from Latin extensus.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).