subjective
sub·ject·ive/səbˈd͡ʒɛktɪv/adjective, noun
subjective is spelled S-U-B-J-E-C-T-I-V-E: 10 letters and 3 syllables (sub·ject·ive). It appears 6.2 times per million words in written English, the 9,735th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “objective vs subjective” about 49,500 times a month (Google, United States). As an adjective, subjective means “Formed, as in opinions, based upon a person's feelings or intuition, rather than upon observation or purely logical reasoning; coming more from…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in subjective?
| Letters | 10: S-U-B-J-E-C-T-I-V-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: sub·ject·ive |
| In writing | 6.2 times per million words; the 9,735th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How common is subjective?
Subjective appears 6.2 times per million words in written English, the 9,735th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce subjective?
- /səbˈd͡ʒɛktɪv/
- /sʌbˈd͡ʒɛktɪv/
Subjective has 3 syllables, split sub·ject·ive in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-subjective.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with subjective
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of subjective
- more subjective comparative
- most subjective superlative
- subjectives plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does subjective mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Formed, as in opinions, based upon a person's feelings or intuition, rather than upon observation or purely logical reasoning; coming more from within the observer than from observations of the external environment.
- 2
Pertaining to subjects as opposed to objects (A subject is one who perceives or is aware; an object is the thing perceived or the thing that the subject is aware of.)
- 3
Resulting from or pertaining to personal mindsets or experience, arising from perceptive mental conditions within the brain and not necessarily or directly from external stimuli.
- 4
Lacking in reality or substance.
- 5
As used by Carl Jung, the innate worldview orientation of the introverted personality types.
- 6
Mind-dependent.
- 7
Experienced by a person mentally and not directly verifiable by others.
- 8
Describing conjugation of a verb that indicates only the subject (agent), not indicating the object (patient) of the action. (In linguistic descriptions of Tundra Nenets, among others.)
noun
- 1
The subjective case.
- 2
A noun or pronoun in the subjective case.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Subjective in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense based upon subjective feelings or intuition:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does subjective come from?
From Latin subiectīvus, equivalent to subject + -ive.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).