purposive
/ˈpəːpəsɪv/
"purposive" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“purposive” is an uncommon English word, ranked #98,612 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #98,612
- frequency rank, English
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Serving a particular purpose; useful; adapted to a given purpose, especially through natural evolution.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | purposive |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈpəːpəsɪv/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #98,612 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “purposive” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for purposive is 9 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈpəːpəsɪv/. Corpus data places it at rank #98,612 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for purposive, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: From purpose + -ive. Compare purpositive. The correct English form is purposive, spelled P-U-R-P-O-S-I-V-E.
Definition
- 1Serving a particular purpose; useful; adapted to a given purpose, especially through natural evolution.
- 2Done or performed with a conscious purpose or intent.
- 3Pertaining to purpose, as reflected in behaviour or mental activity.
- 4Pertaining to or demonstrating purpose.
- 5Possessed of a firm purpose.
- 6Of a clause or conjunction: expressing purpose.
Etymology
From purpose + -ive. Compare purpositive.
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
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Using “purposive”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-U-R-P-O-S-I-V-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈpəːpəsɪv/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- 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.