suppletive
/səˈpliː.tɪv/
"suppletive" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“suppletive” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 10
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Making up for deficiencies; supplementary; suppletory.
Corpus desk
Index EN-suppletive · suppletive · English
suppletive · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 10 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "S" 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 | suppletive |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /səˈpliː.tɪv/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “suppletive” in English
Rare enough to double-check
suppletive is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective, transcribed /səˈpliː.tɪv/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
No generated misspelling entries exist for suppletive in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Late Latin suppletīvus. The correct English form is suppletive, spelled S-U-P-P-L-E-T-I-V-E.
Definition
- 1Making up for deficiencies; supplementary; suppletory.
- 2Supplying an etymologically unrelated word with forms, or which is used as one of its forms, by suppletion (for example, in English, better and best are suppletive forms of good).
- 3Relating to laws which can apply in a contract if the parties choose to agree to this.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how suppletive appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
... of optimus, meaning “best,” which in turn is the superlative suppletive form of bonus, “good.”
Article 11 of the Louisiana Civil Code provides the legal framework for the doctrinal distinction between imperative, or mandatory, and suppletive laws. Although neither term is included in the article, traditional civilian doctrine characterizes as imperative those legal precepts rooted in public policy which may not be set aside by private agreement. Su…
Etymology
Borrowed from Late Latin suppletīvus.
This word in other languages
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.