permissive
per·miss·ive/pəɹˈmɪsɪv/adjective, noun
permissive is spelled P-E-R-M-I-S-S-I-V-E: 10 letters and 3 syllables (per·miss·ive). It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 38,416th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, permissive means “Giving permission, or predisposed to give it; lenient” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in permissive?
| Letters | 10: P-E-R-M-I-S-S-I-V-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: per·miss·ive |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 38,416th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is permissive?
Permissive appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 38,416th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce permissive?
- UK /pəˈmɪsɪv/
- US /pəɹˈmɪsɪv/
Permissive has 3 syllables, split per·miss·ive in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-permissive.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with permissive?
4 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as permissive from its last stressed vowel (/ɪsɪv/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: impressive.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of permissive
- more permissive comparative
- most permissive superlative
- permissives plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does permissive mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Giving permission, or predisposed to give it; lenient.
- 2
Open to the public by permission of the landowner.
- 3
That allows the replication of viruses.
noun
- 1
A grammatical form indicating that an action is permitted by the speaker.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Permissive in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense lenient:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does permissive come from?
From French permissif.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).