retributive
/ɹɪˈtɹɪ.bjʊ.tɪv/
"retributive" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“retributive” is uncommon English (frequency #84,681 among 3,094 “R” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #84,681
- frequency rank, English
- 3,094
- “R” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Relating to retribution; retaliatory.
Corpus desk
Index EN-retributive · retributive · English
retributive · rank #84,681 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #84,681
- LEN-MEGA 11 letters
- VOW-5 5 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,094
- PHOTO-FINISH reshuffling
Nearest frequency peer: reshuffling (-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.
Long-tail ranks near “retributive”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- regio
regio
15,328 corpus weight
- Renu
Renu
15,323 corpus weight
- reshuffling
reshuffling
15,321 corpus weight
- retributive
retributive
15,320 corpus weight
- reviewable
reviewable
15,316 corpus weight
- riverrun
riverrun
15,312 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “retributive” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | retributive |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ɹɪˈtɹɪ.bjʊ.tɪv/ |
| Letters | 11 |
| Frequency rank | #84,681 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “retributive” in English
Rare enough to double-check
retributive is uncommon English at frequency #84,681 among 3,094 “R” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ɹɪˈtɹɪ.bjʊ.tɪv/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Relating to retribution; retaliatory.".
No generated misspelling entries exist for retributive in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
No borrowing history is documented for this entry, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct English form is retributive, spelled R-E-T-R-I-B-U-T-I-V-E.
Definition
- 1Relating to retribution; retaliatory.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how retributive appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Their goal is retributive: to exact a price from Palestinian civilians (and in some cases left-wing Israeli Jews, Christians, and Israeli security forces) for actions Israeli authorities take against the settlers, usually building enforcement in illegally built settlements.
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 "retributive", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).