extensiblevsextensiveWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“extensible” and “extensive” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#40,262
“extensible” frequency rank
#37,329
“extensive” frequency rank
77591
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature extensible extensive
Definition Qui peut s’étendre, qui peut être étendu. Féminin singulier de extensif.

Where the eye mixes extensible and extensive

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.

10 ch
extensible
9 ch
extensive

Visual trap between extensible and extensive

A purely visual mix-up. extensible (\ɛk.stɑ̃.sibl\) and extensive (\ɛk.stɑ̃.siv\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 77591, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

extensible is recorded at frequency rank #40,262, classified as anadj, pronounced \ɛk.stɑ̃.sibl\. extensive is at rank #37,329, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ɛk.stɑ̃.siv\.

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 77591, this pair ranks #27,927 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of extensible vs extensive

Shared letters: einstx. Private to "extensible": bl. Private to "extensive": v.

"extensible" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCCVCCV  ·  "extensive" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • extensibleetxensible · exetnsible · extenisble · extennsible · extensbile · extensibble · extensibel · extensiblle
  • extensiveetxensive · exetnsive · extenisve · extennsive · extensiev · extensivve · extenssive · extensvie

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "extensible" and "extensive" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\ɛk.stɑ̃.sibl\ versus \ɛk.stɑ̃.siv\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "extensible" vs "extensive" - which ranks higher?
"extensive" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #37,329 in our French list, against #40,262 for "extensible". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "extensible" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "extensive" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #27,927 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "extensible" and "extensive" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "excessive vs extensive". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #27,927 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list