retentiveness
"retentiveness" is a 13-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“retentiveness” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 13
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The state of being retentive.
Corpus desk
Index EN-retentiveness · retentiveness · English
retentiveness · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 13 letters
- VOW-5 5 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "R" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | retentiveness |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 13 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “retentiveness” in English
Rare enough to double-check
retentiveness is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The state of being retentive.".
Zero misspellings are on record for retentiveness in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From retentive + -ness. The correct English form is retentiveness, spelled R-E-T-E-N-T-I-V-E-N-E-S-S.
Definition
- 1The state of being retentive.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how retentiveness appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The Neolithic of 8000 to 6000 B.C. is in the sign of Cancer, a feminine sign associated with domesticity, retentiveness, and sentiment.
Etymology
From retentive + -ness.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.