incisive
/ɪnˈsaɪ.sɪv/
"incisive" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“incisive” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #38,901 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #38,901
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 4
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Intelligently analytical and concise. (of a person or mental process)
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 | incisive |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ɪnˈsaɪ.sɪv/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #38,901 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 4 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “incisive” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for incisive is 8 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɪnˈsaɪ.sɪv/. Corpus data places it at rank #38,901 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for incisive, with forms such as "icnisive", "inccisive", and "inciisve". 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 4 confusable-pair relationships, "invasive", "inclusive", "indecisive", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: Late Middle English (in the sense “cutting, penetrating”), borrowed from Medieval Latin incīsīvus, from incīdō (“to cut in, cut through”) + -īvus (“-ive”, adjectival suffix). Compare Middle French incisif. The correct English form is incisive, spelled I-N-C-I-S-I-V-E.
Definition
- 1Intelligently analytical and concise. (of a person or mental process)
- 2Intelligently analytical and concise. (of a person or mental process)
- 3Quickly proceeding to judgment and forceful in expression. (of an action)
- 4Having the quality of incising, cutting, or penetrating, as with a sharp instrument; trenchant.
- 5Of or relating to the incisors.
Etymology
Late Middle English (in the sense “cutting, penetrating”), borrowed from Medieval Latin incīsīvus, from incīdō (“to cut in, cut through”) + -īvus (“-ive”, adjectival suffix). Compare Middle French incisif.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: icnisive,inccisive,inciisve,incisiev,incisivve,incissive,incisvie,incsiive,inicsive,inncisive,nicisive
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of incisive - 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 “incisive”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is I-N-C-I-S-I-V-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ɪnˈsaɪ.sɪv/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “invasive” - see the side-by-side comparison. incisive vs invasive
- 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.