intrusive
/ɪnˈtɹuːsɪv/
"intrusive" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“intrusive” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #18,861 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #18,861
- frequency rank, English
- 9
- letters
- 13
- tracked misspellings
- 3
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Tending to intrude; doing that which is not welcome; interrupting or disturbing; entering without permission or welcome.
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 | intrusive |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ɪnˈtɹuːsɪv/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #18,861 |
| Misspellings tracked | 13 |
| Confusable pairs | 3 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “intrusive” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for intrusive is 9 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɪnˈtɹuːsɪv/. Corpus data places it at rank #18,861 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 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 intrusive, with forms such as "inntrusive", "inrtusive", and "intrrusive". 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 3 confusable-pair relationships, "intensive", "inclusive", "intrusion", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: Back-formation from intrusion, + -ive. The correct English form is intrusive, spelled I-N-T-R-U-S-I-V-E.
Definition
- 1Tending to intrude; doing that which is not welcome; interrupting or disturbing; entering without permission or welcome.
- 2Of rocks: forced, while in a plastic or molten state, into the cavities or between the cracks or layers of other rocks.
- 3epenthetic
- 4Designating 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.
Etymology
Back-formation from intrusion, + -ive.
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: inntrusive,inrtusive,intrrusive,intrsuive,intruisve,intrusiev,intrusivve,intrussive,intrusvie,inttrusive,intursive,itnrusive,nitrusive
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of intrusive - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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 “intrusive”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is I-N-T-R-U-S-I-V-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ɪnˈtɹuːsɪv/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “intensive” - see the side-by-side comparison. intrusive vs intensive
- 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.