impulsive
/ɪmˈpʌlsɪv/
"impulsive" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“impulsive” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #20,389 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #20,389
- frequency rank, English
- 9
- letters
- 13
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Having the power of driving or impelling; giving an impulse; moving; impellent.
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 | impulsive |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ɪmˈpʌlsɪv/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #20,389 |
| Misspellings tracked | 13 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “impulsive” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for impulsive is 9 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɪmˈpʌlsɪv/. Corpus data places it at rank #20,389 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. 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 impulsive, with forms such as "immpulsive", "implusive", and "imppulsive". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "impulsively", "impulse", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Middle French impulsif, from Latin impulsivus. The correct English form is impulsive, spelled I-M-P-U-L-S-I-V-E.
Definition
- 1Having the power of driving or impelling; giving an impulse; moving; impellent.
- 2Actuated by impulse or by transient feelings; inclined to make rapid decisions without due consideration.
- 3Acting momentarily, or by impulse; not continuous – said of forces.
Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French impulsif, from Latin impulsivus.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: immpulsive,implusive,imppulsive,impulisve,impullsive,impulsiev,impulsivve,impulssive,impulsvie,impuslive,imuplsive,ipmulsive,mipulsive
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of impulsive - 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
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Using “impulsive”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is I-M-P-U-L-S-I-V-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ɪmˈpʌlsɪv/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “impulsively” - see the side-by-side comparison. impulsive vs impulsively
- 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.