introspective
/ˌɪntɹəˈspɛktɪv/adjective
introspective is spelled I-N-T-R-O-S-P-E-C-T-I-V-E. The wrong spelling people search most is interospective: about 20 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 169 of all searches for the word. Introspective is an adjective meaning “Examining one's own perceptions and sensory experiences; contemplative or thoughtful about oneself”.
How many letters and syllables are in introspective?
| Letters | 13: I-N-T-R-O-S-P-E-C-T-I-V-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 32,798th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, interospective, about 20 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Rhymes with |
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); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How do you spell introspective?
Introspective is spelled I-N-T-R-O-S-P-E-C-T-I-V-E. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 170 of the searches for introspective in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is introspective?
Introspective appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 32,798th 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 introspective?
- US /ˌɪntɹəˈspɛktɪv/
- Australia /ˌɪntɹəˈspektɪv/
Introspective 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-introspective.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with introspective?
10 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as introspective from its last stressed vowel (/ɛktɪv/):
- perspective
- objective
- respective
- protective
- directive
- retrospective
- corrective
- overprotective
- imperfective
- surjective
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of introspective
- more introspective comparative
- most introspective superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does introspective mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Examining one's own perceptions and sensory experiences; contemplative or thoughtful about oneself.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Introspective in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense examining one's own perceptions and sensory experiences:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | introspectif |
| German | introspektiv, selbstbeobachtend |
| Portuguese | introspectivo |
| Spanish | introspectivo |
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 introspective come from?
From Latin intro "inward, within" (see intro-) + Latin specere "look at".
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).