Which to use
“ample” is a determiner and “amply” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10,978
- “ample” frequency rank
- #46,298
- “amply” frequency rank
- 57276
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ample | amply |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A fully sufficient or abundant quantity of; enough or more than enough. | In an ample manner; extensively; thoroughly. |
Where the eye mixes ample and amply
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses ample with amply
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ample is /ˈæm.pəl/ while amply is /ˈæm.pli/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - e in “ample” becomes y in “amply”, and the parts of speech differ too (determiner vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57276, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ample is recorded at frequency rank #10,978, classified as adet, pronounced /ˈæm.pəl/. amply is at rank #46,298, tagged as anadv, pronounced /ˈæm.pli/.
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 57276, this pair ranks #120,438 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of ample vs amply
Shared letters: almp. Private to "ample": e. Private to "amply": y.
"ample" · 5 letters · shape VCCCV · "amply" · 5 letters · shape VCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "ample" and "amply" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "ample" vs "amply" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "ample" and "amply" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "ample" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "amply" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #120,438 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ample" and "amply" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "amply vs APL". 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 #120,438 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.