obtrusive
/əbˈtɹuːsɪv/
"obtrusive" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“obtrusive” is an uncommon English word, ranked #66,890 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #66,890
- frequency rank, English
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Of a person: overly assertive, bold, or domineering; pushy; also, ostentatious.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | obtrusive |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /əbˈtɹuːsɪv/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #66,890 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “obtrusive” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for obtrusive is 9 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /əbˈtɹuːsɪv/. Corpus data places it at rank #66,890 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Zero misspellings are on record for obtrusive in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: PIE word *h₁epi From Latin obtrūsus + English -ive (suffix meaning ‘of the nature of’, forming adjectives). Obtrūsus is the perfect passive participle of obtrūdō, a variant of obstrūdō (“to push, shove, or thrust against or into”), from ob- (prefix meaning… The correct English form is obtrusive, spelled O-B-T-R-U-S-I-V-E.
Definition
- 1Of a person: overly assertive, bold, or domineering; pushy; also, ostentatious.
- 2Of a thing: noticeable or prominent, especially in a displeasing way.
- 3Protruding or sticking out, especially in a way that obstructs.
Etymology
PIE word *h₁epi From Latin obtrūsus + English -ive (suffix meaning ‘of the nature of’, forming adjectives). Obtrūsus is the perfect passive participle of obtrūdō, a variant of obstrūdō (“to push, shove, or thrust against or into”), from ob- (prefix meaning ‘against; towards’) + trūdō (“to push, shove, or thrust”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *trewd- (“to push; to thrust”)).
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
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Using “obtrusive”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is O-B-T-R-U-S-I-V-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /əbˈtɹuːsɪv/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- 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.