overactive
"overactive" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“overactive” is an uncommon English word, ranked #53,152 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #53,152
- frequency rank, English
- 10
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Excessively active.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | overactive |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #53,152 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “overactive” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for overactive is 10 letters long, classified as an adjective. Corpus data places it at rank #53,152 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Excessively active.".
No misspelling variants are generated for overactive in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From over- + active. The correct English form is overactive, spelled O-V-E-R-A-C-T-I-V-E.
Definition
- 1Excessively active.
Etymology
From over- + active.
Synonyms
Antonyms
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 "overactive"?
What does "overactive" mean?
What is the origin of the word "overactive"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “overactive”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is O-V-E-R-A-C-T-I-V-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- 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.