permissive
"permissive" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“permissive” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #38,551 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #38,551
- frequency rank, English
- 10
- letters
- 13
- tracked misspellings
- 3
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Giving permission, or predisposed to give it; lenient.
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 | permissive |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #38,551 |
| Misspellings tracked | 13 |
| Confusable pairs | 3 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “permissive” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for permissive is 10 letters long, classified as an adjective. Corpus data places it at rank #38,551 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for permissive, with forms such as "eprmissive", "pemrissive", and "perimssive". 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 3 confusable-pair relationships, "permission", "percussive", "permissible", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From French permissif. The correct English form is permissive, spelled P-E-R-M-I-S-S-I-V-E.
Definition
- 1Giving permission, or predisposed to give it; lenient.
- 2Open to the public by permission of the landowner.
- 3That allows the replication of viruses.
Etymology
From French permissif.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: eprmissive,pemrissive,perimssive,permisisve,permisive,permissiev,permissivve,permissvie,permmissive,permsisive,perrmissive,ppermissive,premissive
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of permissive - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 "permissive"?
What does "permissive" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "permissive"?
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Using “permissive”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-E-R-M-I-S-S-I-V-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Don't mix it up with “permission” - see the side-by-side comparison. permissive vs permission
- 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.