obstructive
/əbˈstɹʌk.tɪv/
"obstructive" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“obstructive” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #30,515 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #30,515
- frequency rank, English
- 11
- letters
- 17
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Causing obstructions.
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 | obstructive |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /əbˈstɹʌk.tɪv/ |
| Letters | 11 |
| Frequency rank | #30,515 |
| Misspellings tracked | 17 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “obstructive” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for obstructive is 11 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /əbˈstɹʌk.tɪv/. Corpus data places it at rank #30,515 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Causing obstructions.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 17 likely wrong-spelling variants for obstructive, with forms such as "bostructive", "obbstructive", and "obsrtuctive". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "obstruction", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From obstruct + -ive. The correct English form is obstructive, spelled O-B-S-T-R-U-C-T-I-V-E.
Definition
- 1Causing obstructions.
Etymology
From obstruct + -ive.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: bostructive,obbstructive,obsrtuctive,obsstructive,obstrcutive,obstrructive,obstrucctive,obstrucitve,obstructiev,obstructivve,obstructtive,obstructvie,obstrutcive,obsttructive,obsturctive,obtsructive,osbtructive
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of obstructive - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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 "obstructive"?
What does "obstructive" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "obstructive"?
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Using “obstructive”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is O-B-S-T-R-U-C-T-I-V-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /əbˈstɹʌk.tɪv/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “obstruction” - see the side-by-side comparison. obstructive vs obstruction
- 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.