broadlyvsbrodyWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#9,290
“broadly” frequency rank
#18,774
“brody” frequency rank
28064
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature broadly brody
Definition Widely and openly. Intentionally spinning in circles and sliding in an automobile.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set broadly and brody apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
broadly
5 ch
brody

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: broadly is /ˈbɹɔːd.li/ while brody is /bɹoʊdi/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28064, 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/. brody is at rank #18,774, tagged as anoun, pronounced /bɹoʊdi/.

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 28064, this pair ranks #374,014 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of broadly vs brody

Shared letters: bdory. Private to "broadly": al. Private to "brody": -.

"broadly" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCCV  ·  "brody" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • broadlybbroadly · boradly · braodly · broaddly · broadlly · broadlyy · broadyl · broaldy
  • brodybbrody · bordy · brdoy · broddy · brodyy · broyd · brrody · rbody

Frequency comparison

broadly#9,290
brody#18,774

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "broadly" and "brody" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "broadly" is an adverb and "brody" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "broadly" or "brody"?
"broadly" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,290 in our English list, against #18,774 for "brody". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering broadly vs brody

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adverb, it's “broadly”; for a noun, it's “brody”.
  • 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