Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

missive

/ˈmɪsɪv/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.37 in modern English

Syllables: miss-ive
IPA: /ˈmɪsɪv/

12

Scrabble Score

7

Letters

2

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A written message; a letter, note or memo.

Formal

noun

Letters sent between two parties in which one makes an offer and the other accepts it.

noun

One who is sent; a messenger.

Obsolete

adj

Specially sent; intended or prepared to be sent.

adj

Serving as a missile; intended to be thrown.

Obsolete

Example Sentences

"[Y]ou / Did pocket vp my Letters: and with taunts / Did gibe my Miſive out of audience."
"The juvenile missives from his unmistakably phallic Twitter avatar came days after one of his rockets launched NASA’s first antiasteroid planetary-defense test[…]"
"The Madonna letters, which are interspersed with more personal missives in this curious epistolary memoir, accumulate into a rap about the downsides of celebrity - the problems of ageing, of invaded privacy, of becoming vain and impetuously adopting children from other continents."
""Curses throttle thee!" yelled Ahab. "Captain Mayhew, stand by now to receive it"; and taking the fatal missive from Starbuck's hands, he caught it in the slit of the pole, and reached it over towards the boat."
"Whiles I stood rapt in the wonder of it came missives from the King, who all hailed me ‘Thane of Cawdor,’ by which title these Weird Sisters saluted me and referred me to the coming on of time with ‘Hail king that shalt be.’"
"a letter missive"

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Medieval Latin missīvus, from mittō (“to send”).

Word Breakdown

Root: *meyth₂-

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈmɪsɪv/
British English: /ˈmɪsɪv/

Usage

Inflected Forms

missives (plural)

Phrases

letter missive mission for terms etymologically related to send

Frequently Paired Words

mission for terms etymologically related to send

Synonyms

letter

Rhymes With

submissive dismissive permissive derisive emissive remissive

Questions

How do you pronounce missive?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈmɪsɪv/.
What does missive mean?: A written message; a letter, note or memo.
Where does missive come from?: Learned borrowing from Medieval Latin missīvus, from mittō (“to send”).

How to pronounce missive

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “missive”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈmɪsɪv/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “missive”.
Repeat and practice — Say “missive” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.