receptive

/ɹɪˈsɛptɪv/

//ɹɪˈsɛptɪv// adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"receptive" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“receptive” has 13 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #19,183. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#19,183
frequency rank, English
3,094
“R” headwords
13
tracked misspellings
3
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Capable of receiving something.

Corpus desk

Index EN-receptive · receptive · English

receptive · rank #19,183 · 13 variants · 3 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #19,183
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 3 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 13 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,094
  • PHOTO-FINISH quid

Nearest frequency peer: quid (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “receptive”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “receptive” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

receptive vs recessive
78% similar
receptive vs receive
78% similar
receptive vs reception
78% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for receptive
PropertyValue
Headwordreceptive
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ɹɪˈsɛptɪv/
Letters9
Frequency rank#19,183
Misspellings tracked13
Confusable pairs3
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “receptive”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).receptivelands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “quid” (#19,182), “redundancy” (#19,184), “reelection” (#19,185). Among 3,094 “R” headwords, “receptive” is #19,183. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 13 spelling variants around receptive (IPA /ɹɪˈsɛptɪv/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #19,183 among 3,094 “R” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for receptive, with forms such as "erceptive", "rceeptive", and "recceptive". 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, "recessive", "receive", "reception", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Late Middle English receptive, receptyue (“capable of receiving something; acting as a receptacle”), borrowed from Medieval Latin receptivus (“capable of receiving something”), from Latin receptus (“retaken, having been retaken; received, having been r… The correct English form is receptive, spelled R-E-C-E-P-T-I-V-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Capable of receiving something.
  2. 2
    Ready to receive something, especially new concepts or ideas.
  3. 3
    Of a female flower or gynoecium: ready for reproduction; fertile.
  4. 4
    Of, affecting, or pertaining to the understanding of language rather than its expression.
  5. 5
    Of a female animal (especially a mammal): prepared to mate; in heat, in oestrus.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how receptive appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. receptive to the idea
  2. The patient was receptive to her treatment

Etymology

From Late Middle English receptive, receptyue (“capable of receiving something; acting as a receptacle”), borrowed from Medieval Latin receptivus (“capable of receiving something”), from Latin receptus (“retaken, having been retaken; received, having been received”) + -īvus (suffix added to the perfect passive participial stems of verbs, forming a deverbal adjective meaning ‘doing; related to doing’). Receptus is the perfect passive participle of recipiō (“to regain possession, take back; to recapture; to receive; to accept, undertake”), from re- (prefix meaning ‘back, backwards; again’) + capiō (“to capture, catch, take; to take hold, take possession; to take on; to contain, hold; to occupy; to possess; to receive, take in; to comprehend, understand; to captivate, charm”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kap- (“to hold; to seize”)).

This word in other languages

réceptif(Français)rezeptiv(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • erceptive
  • rceeptive
  • recceptive
  • recepitve
  • recepptive
  • receptiev
  • receptivve
  • recepttive
  • receptvie
  • recetpive
  • recpetive
  • reecptive
  • rreceptive

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of receptive - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

erceptive2rceeptive2recceptive1recepitve2recepptive1receptiev2receptivve1recepttive1
Edit distance from "receptive"

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 "receptive"?
"receptive" is spelled R-E-C-E-P-T-I-V-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ɹɪˈsɛptɪv/.
What does "receptive" mean?
As an adjective, "receptive" means: Capable of receiving something.
What words are commonly confused with "receptive"?
"receptive" is commonly confused with "recessive", "receive", "reception". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "receptive"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "receptive" is /ɹɪˈsɛptɪv/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "receptive"?
From Late Middle English receptive, receptyue (“capable of receiving something; acting as a receptacle”), borrowed from Medieval Latin receptivus (“capable of receiving something”), from Latin receptus (“retaken, having been retaken; received, hav... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "receptive", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

sidelines#19,205Student's#19,217supervise#19,219narration#19,145

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (13 here; floor ≥5).

pamphlet13 variantsvaccinated13 variantsknuckles13 variantswakefield13 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list