Intrusive

How to spell intrusive

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce intrusive

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does intrusive mean?

1. adjectiveTending to interfere or push in where it is unwelcome, often in a way that disturbs privacy or comfort.

Intrusive in a sentence

• The new manager asked a string of intrusive questions about everyone's personal finances.

• She found the constant pop-up adverts on the site far too intrusive.

Where does intrusive come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb intrudere, meaning 'to thrust in' or 'to push oneself in', formed from in- ('into') and trudere ('to thrust or shove'). The past participle of intrudere was intrusus, and that stem gave English the adjective intrusive once the standard -ive ending was attached. The same trudere root pushes its way into several relatives we still use, including 'intrude', 'protrude' (to thrust forward), and 'extrude' (to force out), which is a handy memory hook for the single 's' that comes from the Latin participle. The word settled into English in the seventeenth century, originally describing something that forces its way in where it is not wanted, and it kept that flavour of unwelcome pushing. The spelling trap is the middle: writers reach for a double 's' or an 'sh' sound, but it is a clean single 's' that follows the 'tru' from trudere.

How the word is built

• in- (in, into)
• trus (from Latin trudere: to thrust or push)
• -ive (adjective suffix)