impressive
/ɪmˈpɹɛsɪv/
"impressive" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“impressive” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #3,173 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #3,173
- frequency rank, English
- 10
- letters
- 13
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Making, or tending to make, a positive impression; having power to impress.
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 | impressive |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ɪmˈpɹɛsɪv/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #3,173 |
| Misspellings tracked | 13 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “impressive” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for impressive is 10 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɪmˈpɹɛsɪv/. Corpus data places it at rank #3,173 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 3 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 impressive, with forms such as "immpressive", "imperssive", and "imppressive". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "impressively", "impression", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: impress + -ive The correct English form is impressive, spelled I-M-P-R-E-S-S-I-V-E.
Definition
- 1Making, or tending to make, a positive impression; having power to impress.
- 2Capable of being impressed.
- 3Appealing.
Etymology
impress + -ive
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: immpressive,imperssive,imppressive,impresisve,impresive,impressiev,impressivve,impressvie,imprressive,imprsesive,imrpessive,ipmressive,mipressive
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of impressive - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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 "impressive"?
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Using “impressive”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is I-M-P-R-E-S-S-I-V-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ɪmˈpɹɛsɪv/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “impressively” - see the side-by-side comparison. impressive vs impressively
- 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.