broadlyvsBroadwayWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: broadly is a adverb, Broadway is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“broadly” is an adverb and “Broadway” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#9,290
“broadly” frequency rank
#6,216
“Broadway” frequency rank
15506
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature broadly Broadway
Definition Widely and openly. A street name, typically for a wide road: a specific broad way.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set broadly and Broadway apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
broadly
8 ch
Broadway

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: broadly is /ˈbɹɔːd.li/ while Broadway is /ˈbɹɔdweɪ/. 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 (adverb vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15506, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

broadly is recorded at frequency rank #9,290, classified as anadv, pronounced /ˈbɹɔːd.li/. Broadway is at rank #6,216, tagged as aname, pronounced /ˈbɹɔdweɪ/.

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 15506, this pair ranks #463,549 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of broadly vs Broadway

Shared letters: abdory. Private to "broadly": l. Private to "Broadway": w.

"broadly" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCCV  ·  "Broadway" · 8 letters · shape CCVVCCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • broadlybbroadly · boradly · braodly · broaddly · broadlly · broadlyy · broadyl · broaldy
  • Broadwaybbroadway · boradway · braodway · broadawy · broaddway · broadwayy · broadwway · broadwya

Frequency comparison

broadly#9,290
Broadway#6,216

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "broadly" and "Broadway" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "broadly" is an adverb and "Broadway" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "broadly" or "Broadway"?
"Broadway" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,216 in our English list, against #9,290 for "broadly". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering broadly vs Broadway

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adverb, it's “broadly”; for a name, it's “Broadway”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “broadly” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list