Which to use
“Barclay” is a name and “barely” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #22,583
- “Barclay” frequency rank
- #3,041
- “barely” frequency rank
- 25624
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Barclay | barely |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A surname. | By a small margin. |
Where the eye mixes Barclay and barely
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses Barclay with barely
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Barclay is /ˈbɑː.kli/ while barely is /ˈbɛə(ɹ).li/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (name vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25624, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Barclay is recorded at frequency rank #22,583, classified as aname, pronounced /ˈbɑː.kli/. barely is at rank #3,041, tagged as anadv, pronounced /ˈbɛə(ɹ).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 25624, this pair ranks #392,835 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Barclay vs barely
Shared letters: ablry. Private to "Barclay": c. Private to "barely": e.
"Barclay" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVV · "barely" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Barclay" for "barely" ever safe?
Which is more common, "Barclay" or "barely"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Barclay" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "barely" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #392,835 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Barclay" and "barely" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "barbell vs barely". 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 #392,835 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.