passivity
/pæˈsɪvɪti/
"passivity" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“passivity” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #47,248 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #47,248
- frequency rank, English
- 9
- letters
- 12
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The state of being passive.
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 | passivity |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /pæˈsɪvɪti/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #47,248 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “passivity” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for passivity is 9 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /pæˈsɪvɪti/. Corpus data places it at rank #47,248 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for passivity, with forms such as "apssivity", "pasisvity", and "pasivity". 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 1 confusable-pair relationship, "passively", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From passive + -ity. The correct English form is passivity, spelled P-A-S-S-I-V-I-T-Y.
Definition
- 1The state of being passive.
- 2Submissiveness.
- 3A lack of initiative.
- 4The belief that one's thoughts or actions are influenced or controlled by an external agent.
Etymology
From passive + -ity.
Synonyms
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: apssivity,pasisvity,pasivity,passiivty,passivitty,passivityy,passiviyt,passivtiy,passivvity,passviity,ppassivity,psasivity
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of passivity - 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 “passivity”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-A-S-S-I-V-I-T-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /pæˈsɪvɪti/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “passively” - see the side-by-side comparison. passivity vs passively
- 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.