innovative
/ɪnˈnɒ.və.tɪv/adjective
innovative is spelled I-N-N-O-V-A-T-I-V-E: 10 letters and 4 syllables. It appears 13 times per million words in written English, the 6,047th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, innovative means “Characterized by the creation of new ideas or inventions” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in innovative?
| Letters | 10: I-N-N-O-V-A-T-I-V-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 13 times per million words; the 6,047th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
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).
How common is innovative?
Innovative appears 13 times per million words in written English, the 6,047th 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 innovative?
- UK /ɪnˈnɒ.və.tɪv/
- UK /ˈɪn.ə.və.tɪv/
- UK /ˈɪn.əˌveɪ.tɪv/
Innovative has 4 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-innovative.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of innovative
- more innovative comparative
- most innovative superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does innovative mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Characterized by the creation of new ideas or inventions.
- 2
Forward-looking; ahead of current thinking.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Innovative in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense characterized by the creation of new ideas or things:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | novateur, innovant |
| German | innovativ |
| Portuguese | inovador, inovativo |
| Spanish | innovador, innovativo |
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 innovative come from?
From innovate + -ive.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).