oppressive

Name: oppressive, English Word Data
Creator: Wiktionary
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

/əˈpɹɛs.ɪv/

//əˈpɹɛs.ɪv// adj

By PlainSpell · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) · analyzed September 3, 2026

The verdict

“oppressive” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #16,086. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#16,086
frequency rank, English: 1,431
“O” headwords: 11
tracked misspellings: 1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Burdensome or difficult to bear.

Corpus desk

Index EN-oppressive · oppressive · English

oppressive · rank #16,086 · 11 variants · 1 confusable

FREQ-MID #16,086
LEN-MEGA 10 letters
VOW-4 4 vowels
CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
VAR-MID 11 variants
BOOK-MID 1,431
PHOTO-FINISH Pasadena

Nearest frequency peer: Pasadena (+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.

nostalgic

83,918
NRA

83,917
oppressive

83,915
Pasadena

83,914
patronage

83,913
Pearce

83,912

What this shows “oppressive” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

oppressive vs oppression

80% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for oppressive
Property	Value
Headword	oppressive
Language	English
Part of speech	Adjective
IPA	/əˈpɹɛs.ɪv/
Letters	10
Frequency rank	#16,086
Misspellings tracked	11
Confusable pairs	1
Source	Wiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “oppressive”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).oppressivelands here:

#16,086

#1#100#1K#10K#100K

← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “Pasadena” (#16,087), “NRA” (#16,084), “patronage” (#16,088). Among 1,431 “O” headwords, “oppressive” is #16,086. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around oppressive (IPA /əˈpɹɛs.ɪv/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #16,086 among 1,431 “O” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for oppressive, with forms such as "opperssive", "oppresisve", and "oppresive". 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 1 confusable-pair relationship, "oppression", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From oppress + -ive. The correct English form is oppressive, spelled O-P-P-R-E-S-S-I-V-E.

Definition

1
Burdensome or difficult to bear.
2
Tyrannical or exercising unjust power.
3
Weighing heavily on the spirit; being quite intense, excessive or overwhelming.
4
Hot and humid.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how oppressive appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

The oppressive tax laws made it difficult to start a small company.
oppressive smell

Etymology

From oppress + -ive.

Synonyms

harsh

This word in other languages

opresivo(Español)oppressif(Français)unterdrückend(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

opperssive
oppresisve
oppresive
oppressiev
oppressivve
oppressvie
opprressive
opprsesive
opressive
oprpessive
popressive

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of oppressive - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

Edit distance from "oppressive"

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 "oppressive"?

"oppressive" is spelled O-P-P-R-E-S-S-I-V-E. The IPA pronunciation is /əˈpɹɛs.ɪv/.

What does "oppressive" mean?

As an adjective, "oppressive" means: Burdensome or difficult to bear.

What words are commonly confused with "oppressive"?

"oppressive" is commonly confused with "oppression". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.

How do you pronounce "oppressive"?

The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "oppressive" is /əˈpɹɛs.ɪv/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.

What is the origin of the word "oppressive"?

From oppress + -ive. See the full etymology section above for more details.

Is PlainSpell free to use?

Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "oppressive", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

mistakenly#16,077 durability#16,012 wavelength#16,165 Cumberland#15,998

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).

Pasadena11 variants prosper11 variants knitting11 variants roadside11 variants