reactive
/ɹiːˈæktɪv/
"reactive" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“reactive” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #14,199. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #14,199
- frequency rank, English
- 3,094
- “R” headwords
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 7
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - That reacts or responds to a stimulus.
Corpus desk
Index EN-reactive · reactive · English
reactive · rank #14,199 · 11 variants · 7 confusables
- FREQ-MID #14,199
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-MID 7 pairs
- VAR-MID 11 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,094
- PHOTO-FINISH raping
Nearest frequency peer: raping (-1 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Frequency neighbourhood for “reactive”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- PTSD
PTSD
85,806 corpus weight
- quartet
quartet
85,805 corpus weight
- radically
radically
85,804 corpus weight
- raping
raping
85,803 corpus weight
- reactive
reactive
85,802 corpus weight
- reboot
reboot
85,801 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “reactive” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
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 | reactive |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ɹiːˈæktɪv/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #14,199 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 7 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “reactive” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 11 spelling variants around reactive (IPA /ɹiːˈæktɪv/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #14,199 among 3,094 “R” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for reactive, with forms such as "eractive", "raective", and "reacctive". 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 7 confusable-pair relationships, "receive", "relative", "realtime", 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 react + -ive. The correct English form is reactive, spelled R-E-A-C-T-I-V-E.
Definition
- 1That reacts or responds to a stimulus.
- 2That readily takes part in reactions.
- 3Characterized by induction or capacitance rather than resistance.
- 4Reacting to the past rather than anticipating the future, not predictive.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how reactive appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
francium is the most reactive of the alkali metals.
Etymology
From react + -ive.
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- eractive
- raective
- reacctive
- reacitve
- reactiev
- reactivve
- reacttive
- reactvie
- reatcive
- recative
- rreactive
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of reactive - 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
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "reactive", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).
What to do next
You've looked up "reactive". Here's where to go from here.
- "reactive" maps to 7 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "receive". View pair
- 11 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
- Usage frequency rank #14,199 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more English words in the "R" letter cohort. R–Z browse
- PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
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.