inquisitive

Name: inquisitive, English Word Data
Creator: Wiktionary
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

/ɪŋˈkwɪzətɪv/

//ɪŋˈkwɪzətɪv// adj

By PlainSpell · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) · analyzed September 3, 2026

The verdict

“inquisitive” has 15 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #29,693. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#29,693
frequency rank, English: 2,140
“I” headwords: 15
tracked misspellings: 1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Eager to acquire knowledge; acquisitive.

Corpus desk

Index EN-inquisitive · inquisitive · English

inquisitive · rank #29,693 · 15 variants · 1 confusable

FREQ-MID #29,693
LEN-MEGA 11 letters
VOW-6 6 vowels
CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
VAR-HIGH 15 variants
BOOK-MID 2,140
PHOTO-FINISH indiscriminat…

Nearest frequency peer: indiscriminately (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

IMG

70,311
impatience

70,310
indiscrimin…

70,309
inquisitive

70,308
instructive

70,307
interlocking

70,305

What this shows “inquisitive” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

inquisitive vs inquisition

82% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for inquisitive
Property	Value
Headword	inquisitive
Language	English
Part of speech	Adjective
IPA	/ɪŋˈkwɪzətɪv/
Letters	11
Frequency rank	#29,693
Misspellings tracked	15
Confusable pairs	1
Source	Wiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “inquisitive”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).inquisitivelands here:

#29,693

#1#100#1K#10K#100K

← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “indiscriminately” (#29,692), “instructive” (#29,694), “impatience” (#29,691). Among 2,140 “I” headwords, “inquisitive” is #29,693. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 15 spelling variants around inquisitive (IPA /ɪŋˈkwɪzətɪv/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #29,693 among 2,140 “I” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 15 likely wrong-spelling variants for inquisitive, with forms such as "innquisitive", "inqiusitive", and "inqquisitive". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "inquisition", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: Late 14th century, from Old French inquisitif, from Late Latin inquisitivus, from Latin inquisitus, past participle of inquirere. See also inquire. The correct English form is inquisitive, spelled I-N-Q-U-I-S-I-T-I-V-E.

Definition

1
Eager to acquire knowledge; acquisitive.
2
Too curious; overly interested; nosy.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how inquisitive appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

[…] a young, inquiſitive and ſprightly Genius; […]
A wiſe man is not inquiſitive about things impertinent; […]

Etymology

Late 14th century, from Old French inquisitif, from Late Latin inquisitivus, from Latin inquisitus, past participle of inquirere. See also inquire.

This word in other languages

curioso(Español)curieux(Français)neugierig(Deutsch)intrometido(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

innquisitive
inqiusitive
inqquisitive
inquiistive
inquisiitve
inquisitiev
inquisitivve
inquisittive
inquisitvie
inquissitive
inquistiive
inqusiitive
inuqisitive
iqnuisitive
niquisitive

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of inquisitive - 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.

Edit distance from "inquisitive"

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 "inquisitive"?

"inquisitive" is spelled I-N-Q-U-I-S-I-T-I-V-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ɪŋˈkwɪzətɪv/.

What does "inquisitive" mean?

As an adjective, "inquisitive" means: Eager to acquire knowledge; acquisitive.

What words are commonly confused with "inquisitive"?

"inquisitive" is commonly confused with "inquisition". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.

How do you pronounce "inquisitive"?

The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "inquisitive" is /ɪŋˈkwɪzətɪv/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.

What is the origin of the word "inquisitive"?

Late 14th century, from Old French inquisitif, from Late Latin inquisitivus, from Latin inquisitus, past participle of inquirere. See also inquire. See the full etymology section above for more details.

Is PlainSpell free to use?

Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "inquisitive", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

instructive#29,694 hypothermia#29,689 graphically#29,674 meritorious#29,738

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (15 here; floor ≥5).

impatience15 variants hatchback15 variants habitation15 variants goaltender15 variants