Which to use
“alarming” is a verb and “alarmingly” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #14,262
- “alarming” frequency rank
- #43,500
- “alarmingly” frequency rank
- 57762
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | alarming | alarmingly |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | present participle and gerund of alarm | In an alarming way, frighteningly. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set alarming and alarmingly apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: alarming is /əˈlɑːm.ɪŋ/ while alarmingly is /əˈlɑːm.ɪŋ.li/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “alarming” sits inside “alarmingly”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57762, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
alarming is recorded at frequency rank #14,262, classified as averb, pronounced /əˈlɑːm.ɪŋ/. alarmingly is at rank #43,500, tagged as anadv, pronounced /əˈlɑːm.ɪŋ.li/.
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 57762, this pair ranks #117,155 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of alarming vs alarmingly
Shared letters: agilmnr. Private to "alarming": -. Private to "alarmingly": y.
"alarming" · 8 letters · shape VCVCCVCC · "alarmingly" · 10 letters · shape VCVCCVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- alarming ← aalrming · alamring · alarimng · alarmign · alarmingg · alarminng · alarmming · alarmnig
- alarmingly ← aalrmingly · alamringly · alarimngly · alarmignly · alarminggly · alarminglly · alarminglyy · alarmingyl
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "alarming" and "alarmingly" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "alarming" or "alarmingly"?
Remembering alarming vs alarmingly
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “alarming”; for an adverb, it's “alarmingly”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “alarming” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable