reclusive
/ɹɪˈkluːsɪv/
"reclusive" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“reclusive” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #39,052 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #39,052
- frequency rank, English
- 9
- letters
- 13
- tracked misspellings
- 3
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Of, characterized by, or preferring privacy and isolation; secluded.
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 | reclusive |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ɹɪˈkluːsɪv/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #39,052 |
| Misspellings tracked | 13 |
| Confusable pairs | 3 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “reclusive” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for reclusive is 9 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɹɪˈkluːsɪv/. Corpus data places it at rank #39,052 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Of, characterized by, or preferring privacy and isolation; secluded.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for reclusive, with forms such as "erclusive", "rcelusive", and "recclusive". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "recursive", "recluse", "recessive", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From recluse + -ive. The correct English form is reclusive, spelled R-E-C-L-U-S-I-V-E.
Definition
- 1Of, characterized by, or preferring privacy and isolation; secluded.
Etymology
From recluse + -ive.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: erclusive,rcelusive,recclusive,recllusive,reclsuive,recluisve,reclusiev,reclusivve,reclussive,reclusvie,reculsive,relcusive,rreclusive
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of reclusive - 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.
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 "reclusive"?
What does "reclusive" mean?
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Using “reclusive”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is R-E-C-L-U-S-I-V-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ɹɪˈkluːsɪv/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “recursive” - see the side-by-side comparison. reclusive vs recursive
- 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.