passive
/ˈpæs.ɪv/
"passive" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“passive” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #6,818 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #6,818
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 7
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Being subjected to an action without producing a reaction.
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 | passive |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈpæs.ɪv/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #6,818 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 7 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “passive” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for passive is 7 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈpæs.ɪv/. Corpus data places it at rank #6,818 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 8 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for passive, with forms such as "apssive", "pasisve", and "pasive". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 7 confusable-pair relationships, "pastime", "pensive", "Passover", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English passyf, passyve, from Middle French, French passif, from Latin passivus (“serving to express the suffering of an action; in late Latin literally capable of suffering or feeling”), from passus, past participle of pati (“to suffer”), ultim… The correct English form is passive, spelled P-A-S-S-I-V-E.
Definition
- 1Being subjected to an action without producing a reaction.
- 2Taking no action.
- 3Being in the passive voice.
- 4Being inactive and submissive in a relationship, especially in a sexual one.
- 5Not participating in management.
- 6Without motive power.
- 7Of a component: that consumes but does not produce energy, or is incapable of power gain.
- 8Where allowance is made for a possible future event.
Etymology
From Middle English passyf, passyve, from Middle French, French passif, from Latin passivus (“serving to express the suffering of an action; in late Latin literally capable of suffering or feeling”), from passus, past participle of pati (“to suffer”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peh₁- (“to hurt”); compare patient.
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: apssive,pasisve,pasive,passiev,passivve,passvie,ppassive,psasive
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of passive - 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
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Using “passive”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-A-S-S-I-V-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈpæs.ɪv/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “pastime” - see the side-by-side comparison. passive vs pastime
- 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.