actif

\ak.tif\

/\ak.tif\/ adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“actif” has 7 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #2,606. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#2,606
frequency rank, French
6,727
“A” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
19
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Qui agit ou qui a la vertu d’agir.

Corpus desk

Index FR-actif · actif · French

actif · rank #2,606 · 7 variants · 19 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #2,606
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 19 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,727
  • PHOTO-FINISH acquis

Nearest frequency peer: acquis (-1 rank slots)

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.

Pairs de rang près de l'aimant d'erreurs « actif »

Même bande de rareté: utile si une faute tombe sur un lemme voisin

corpus weight

What this shows « actif » siège parmi ces pairs FrequencyWords; la profondeur des fautes est suivie à part dans le graphique d'édition.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

actif vs anti
60% similar
actif vs actu
60% similar
actif vs asti
60% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for actif
PropertyValue
Headwordactif
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdjective
IPA\ak.tif\
Letters5
Frequency rank#2,606
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs19
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « actif »

Cette échelle va du noyau du français courant (gauche) jusqu'à la traîne des formes rares (droite).actifse place ici:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

L'axe est logarithmique: chaque tic marque environ dix fois moins de fréquence. Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « acquis » (#2,605), « allais » (#2,607), « évident » (#2,604). Parmi 6,727 lemmes en « A », « actif » est au #2,606. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around actif (IPA \ak.tif\), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #2,606 among 6,727 “A” headwords. Wiktionary lists 8 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for actif, with forms such as "acctif", "acitf", and "actfi". 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 19 confusable-pair relationships, "anti", "actu", "asti", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is actif, spelled A-C-T-I-F.

Definition

  1. 1
    Qui agit ou qui a la vertu d’agir.
  2. 2
    Qui agit avec promptitude, avec énergie.
  3. 3
    Qui est diligent, laborieux.
  4. 4
    Qualifie une vie qui consiste dans les actions extérieures de piété, par opposition à la vie contemplative, qui consiste dans les sentiments et les affections de l’âme.
  5. 5
    Qualifie tout service public, sédentaire ou ambulant, qui est valable pour la retraite. Parfois par opposition à service sédentaire, et a alors proprement le sens de service ambulant.
  6. 6
    Dont le sujet exécute l’action.
  7. 7
    Dont le sujet exécute l’action.
  8. 8
    Qui dans le coït joue le rôle insertif.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how actif appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Qualités actives.
  2. Principes actifs.

Synonyms

transitif

Antonyms

passifneutreréceptif

This word in other languages

active(English)activo(Español)aktiv(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • acctif
  • acitf
  • actfi
  • actiff
  • acttif
  • atcif
  • catif

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of actif - 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.

acctif1acitf2actfi2actiff1acttif1atcif2catif2
Edit distance from "actif"

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 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "actif"?
"actif" is spelled A-C-T-I-F. The IPA pronunciation is \ak.tif\.
What does "actif" mean?
As an adjective, "actif" means: Qui agit ou qui a la vertu d’agir.
What words are commonly confused with "actif"?
"actif" is commonly confused with "anti", "actu", "asti". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "actif"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "actif" is \ak.tif\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "actif" come from?
"actif" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "actif", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

stage#2,598foule#2,616Grèce#2,619hauts#2,621

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

poisson7 variantsdevez7 variantscommis7 variantsballes7 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list