intense
/ɪnˈtɛns/
"intense" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“intense” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #3,698 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #3,698
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 10
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Of a characteristic: extreme or very high or strong in degree; severe; also, excessive, towering.
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 | intense |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ɪnˈtɛns/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #3,698 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 10 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “intense” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for intense is 7 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɪnˈtɛns/. Corpus data places it at rank #3,698 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for intense, with forms such as "inetnse", "inntense", and "intenes". 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 10 confusable-pair relationships, "intent", "inverse", "intersex", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Late Middle English intens, intense (“ardent, fervent; extreme, great, intense”), borrowed from Old French intense (modern French intense), or directly from its etymon Latin intēnsus (“strained, stretched tight; intense; attentive; violent; (rare) eage… The correct English form is intense, spelled I-N-T-E-N-S-E.
Definition
- 1Of a characteristic: extreme or very high or strong in degree; severe; also, excessive, towering.
- 2Of a thing: possessing some characteristic to an extreme or very high or strong degree.
- 3Of feelings, thoughts, etc.: strongly focused; ardent, deep, earnest, passionate.
- 4Of a person: very emotional or passionate.
- 5Under tension; tightly drawn; strained, stressed, tense.
Etymology
From Late Middle English intens, intense (“ardent, fervent; extreme, great, intense”), borrowed from Old French intense (modern French intense), or directly from its etymon Latin intēnsus (“strained, stretched tight; intense; attentive; violent; (rare) eager, intent”), the perfect passive participle of intendō (“to stretch out, strain”), from in- (prefix meaning ‘in, inside, within’) + tendō (“to extend, stretch”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tend- (“to extend, stretch”)).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: inetnse,inntense,intenes,intennse,intensse,intesne,intnese,inttense,itnense,nitense
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of intense - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 “intense”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is I-N-T-E-N-S-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ɪnˈtɛns/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “intent” - see the side-by-side comparison. intense vs intent
- 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.