# inventive

> English word · Adjective · IPA /ɪnˈvɛntɪv/ · frequency rank #20,674

## Definitions
1. Of, or relating to invention; pertaining to the act of devising new mechanisms or processes.
2. Possessed of a particular capacity for the design of new mechanisms or processes, creative or skilful at inventing.
3. Purposely fictive.

## Etymology
From Middle English inventif, inventyfe, borrowed from Old French inventif, borrowed from Medieval Latin inventivus. By surface analysis, invent + -ive.

## Easily confused with
- **intensive** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/intensive-vs-inventive)
- **invention** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/invention-vs-inventive)
- **incentive** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/incentive-vs-inventive)
- **inventing** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/inventing-vs-inventive)

## Common misspellings (13)
`inevntive`, `innventive`, `invenitve`, `invenntive`, `inventiev`, `inventivve`, `inventtive`, `inventvie`, `invetnive`, `invnetive`, `invventive`, `ivnentive`, `niventive`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/inventive