Which to use
“arguable” is an adjective and “arguably” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #43,509
- “arguable” frequency rank
- #8,236
- “arguably” frequency rank
- 51745
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | arguable | arguably |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | That can be argued; that can be proven or strongly supported with sound logical deduction, precedent, and evidence. | As can be supported or proven by sound logical deduction, evidence, and precedent, but without absolute certainty. |
Where the eye mixes arguable and arguably
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: arguable vs arguably
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: arguable is /ˈɑːɡjuəbl/ while arguably is /ˈɑːɡjuəbli/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - e in “arguable” becomes y in “arguably”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51745, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
arguable is recorded at frequency rank #43,509, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈɑːɡjuəbl/. arguably is at rank #8,236, tagged as anadv, pronounced /ˈɑːɡjuəbli/.
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 51745, this pair ranks #162,893 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of arguable vs arguably
Shared letters: abglru. Private to "arguable": e. Private to "arguably": y.
"arguable" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCCV · "arguably" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "arguable" and "arguably" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "arguable" or "arguably"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "arguable" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "arguably" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #162,893 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "arguable" and "arguably" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "arable vs arguable". 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 #162,893 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.