missive
/ˈmɪsɪv/
"missive" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“missive” is uncommon English (frequency #61,637 among 4,057 “M” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #61,637
- frequency rank, English
- 4,057
- “M” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A written message; a letter, note or memo.
Corpus desk
Index EN-missive · missive · English
missive · rank #61,637 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #61,637
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 4,057
- PHOTO-FINISH Minden
Nearest frequency peer: Minden (-1 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Long-tail ranks near “missive”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- midriff
midriff
38,369 corpus weight
- Millington
Millington
38,367 corpus weight
- Minden
Minden
38,365 corpus weight
- missive
missive
38,364 corpus weight
- modularity
modularity
38,362 corpus weight
- Moffitt
Moffitt
38,361 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “missive” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | missive |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈmɪsɪv/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #61,637 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “missive” in English
Rare enough to double-check
missive is uncommon English at frequency #61,637 among 4,057 “M” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈmɪsɪv/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for missive, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: 15th century; from Medieval Latin missīvus, from mittō (“to send”). The correct English form is missive, spelled M-I-S-S-I-V-E.
Definition
- 1A written message; a letter, note or memo.
- 2Letters sent between two parties in which one makes an offer and the other accepts it.
- 3One who is sent; a messenger.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how missive appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
[Y]ou / Did pocket vp my Letters: and with taunts / Did gibe my Miſive out of audience.
The juvenile missives from his unmistakably phallic Twitter avatar came days after one of his rockets launched NASA’s first antiasteroid planetary-defense test[…]
Etymology
15th century; from Medieval Latin missīvus, from mittō (“to send”).
This word in other languages
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
How do you spell "missive"?
What does "missive" mean?
How do you pronounce "missive"?
What is the origin of the word "missive"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "missive", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).