intrusive
in·tru·sive/ɪnˈtɹuːsɪv/adjective, noun
intrusive is spelled I-N-T-R-U-S-I-V-E: 9 letters and 3 syllables (in·tru·sive). It appears 2.1 times per million words in written English, the 18,811th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, intrusive means “Tending to intrude; doing that which is not welcome; interrupting or disturbing; entering without permission or welcome” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in intrusive?
| Letters | 9: I-N-T-R-U-S-I-V-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: in·tru·sive |
| In writing | 2.1 times per million words; the 18,811th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is intrusive?
Intrusive appears 2.1 times per million words in written English, the 18,811th 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 intrusive?
- /ɪnˈtɹuːsɪv/
Intrusive has 3 syllables, split in·tru·sive in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-intrusive.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of intrusive
- more intrusive comparative
- most intrusive superlative
- intrusives plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does intrusive mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Tending to intrude; doing that which is not welcome; interrupting or disturbing; entering without permission or welcome.
Did it ever cross your mind that he might find all those questions you ask intrusive?
- 2
Of rocks: forced, while in a plastic or molten state, into the cavities or between the cracks or layers of other rocks.
- 3
epenthetic
- 4
Designating a type of collection in which each item keeps track of what collection it is in, rather than the more conventional approach of a collection keeping track of what items it contains. An intrusive collection does not "own" its contents and a single item can be part of multiple intrusive collections.
an intrusive linked list
noun
- 1
An igneous rock that is forced, while molten, into cracks or between other layers of rock
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Intrusive in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | intrusif |
| German | aufdringlich , intrusiv |
| Portuguese | intrusivo |
| Spanish | intruso, intrusivo, zampón, intrusista |
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 intrusive come from?
Back-formation from intrusion, + -ive.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).