Which to use
“intense” and “intensive” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,498
- “intense” frequency rank
- #15,417
- “intensive” frequency rank
- 19915
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | intense | intensive |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui dépasse la mesure ordinaire ; qui est grand, fort ou vif. | Féminin singulier de intensif. |
Where the eye mixes intense and intensive
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: intense vs intensive
A purely visual mix-up. intense (\ɛ̃.tɑ̃s\) and intensive (\ɛ̃.tɑ̃.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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19915, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
intense is recorded at frequency rank #4,498, classified as anadj, pronounced \ɛ̃.tɑ̃s\. intensive is at rank #15,417, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ɛ̃.tɑ̃.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 19915, this pair ranks #370,889 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of intense vs intensive
Shared letters: einst. Private to "intense": -. Private to "intensive": v.
"intense" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV · "intensive" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "intense" and "intensive" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "intense" or "intensive"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "intense" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "intensive" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #370,889 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "intense" and "intensive" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "intensive vs inventive". 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 #370,889 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.