Which to use
“arbitrarily” is an adverb and “arbitrary” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #21,722
- “arbitrarily” frequency rank
- #8,890
- “arbitrary” frequency rank
- 30612
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | arbitrarily | arbitrary |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | In an arbitrary manner. | Based on individual discretion or judgment; not based on any objective distinction, perhaps even made at random. |
Letter map: arbitrarily vs arbitrary
Shared letters muted; letters that set arbitrarily and arbitrary apart highlighted. Shared run: 9.
Part-of-speech tell for arbitrarily / arbitrary
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: arbitrarily is anadverb and arbitraryanadjective. On the page they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30612, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
arbitrarily is recorded at frequency rank #21,722, classified as anadv. arbitrary is at rank #8,890, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈɑː.bɪ.tɹə.ɹi/.
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 30612, this pair ranks #353,123 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of arbitrarily vs arbitrary
Shared letters: abirty. Private to "arbitrarily": l. Private to "arbitrary": -.
"arbitrarily" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVCV · "arbitrary" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- arbitrarily ← abritrarily · arbbitrarily · arbirtarily · arbitarrily · arbitrairly · arbitrarilly · arbitrarilyy · arbitrariyl
- arbitrary ← abritrary · arbbitrary · arbirtary · arbitarry · arbitrarry · arbitraryy · arbitrayr · arbitrrary
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "arbitrarily" for "arbitrary" ever safe?
Frequency check: "arbitrarily" vs "arbitrary" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pair "arbitrarily" vs "arbitrary" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "arbitrarily" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "arbitrary" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #353,123 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "arbitrarily" and "arbitrary" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "arbitrage vs arbitrary". 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 #353,123 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.