intensive
/ɪnˈtɛnsɪv/
"intensive" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“intensive” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #6,485 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #6,485
- frequency rank, English
- 9
- letters
- 13
- tracked misspellings
- 7
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Done with intensity or to a great degree; thorough.
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 | intensive |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ɪnˈtɛnsɪv/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #6,485 |
| Misspellings tracked | 13 |
| Confusable pairs | 7 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “intensive” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for intensive is 9 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɪnˈtɛnsɪv/. Corpus data places it at rank #6,485 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 10 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 intensive, with forms such as "inetnsive", "inntensive", and "intenisve". 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 7 confusable-pair relationships, "intrusive", "inventive", "intensively", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: The adjective is derived from Late Middle English intensive (“fervent, great, intense”), borrowed from Old French intensif, intensive (modern French intensif) + Middle English -ive (suffix meaning ‘of the nature of, relating to’ forming adjectives), equival… The correct English form is intensive, spelled I-N-T-E-N-S-I-V-E.
Definition
- 1Done with intensity or to a great degree; thorough.
- 2Being made more intense.
- 3Making something more intense; intensifying.
- 4Making something more intense; intensifying.
- 5Involving much activity in a short period of time; highly concentrated.
- 6Of or pertaining to innate or internal intensity or strength rather than outward extent.
- 7Chiefly suffixed to a noun: using something with intensity; requiring a great amount of something; demanding.
- 8Chiefly suffixed to a noun: using something with intensity; requiring a great amount of something; demanding.
- 9That can be intensified; allowing an increase of degree.
- 10Synonym of intense (“extreme or very high or strong in degree; of feelings, thoughts, etc.: strongly focused”).
Etymology
The adjective is derived from Late Middle English intensive (“fervent, great, intense”), borrowed from Old French intensif, intensive (modern French intensif) + Middle English -ive (suffix meaning ‘of the nature of, relating to’ forming adjectives), equivalent to intense + -ive. Intensif is from Medieval Latin intēnsīvus, from Latin intēnsus (“attentive; eager, intent; intensive”) + -īvus (suffix forming adjectives with the sense ‘doing; related to doing’); and intēnsus is the perfect passive participle of intendō (“to stretch out, strain”), from in- (prefix meaning ‘to, towards’) + tendō (“to extend, stretch, stretch out”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tend- (“to extend, stretch”)). Doublet of intend. The noun is derived from the adjective.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: inetnsive,inntensive,intenisve,intennsive,intensiev,intensivve,intenssive,intensvie,intesnive,intnesive,inttensive,itnensive,nitensive
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of intensive - 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.
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 “intensive”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is I-N-T-E-N-S-I-V-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ɪnˈtɛnsɪv/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “intrusive” - see the side-by-side comparison. intensive vs intrusive
- 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.