Which to use
“clumsily” is an adverb and “clumsy” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #46,986
- “clumsily” frequency rank
- #16,199
- “clumsy” frequency rank
- 63185
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | clumsily | clumsy |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | In a clumsy manner or way; without care or finesse, often hurriedly or awkwardly. | Awkward, lacking coordination, not graceful, not dextrous. |
Letter map: clumsily vs clumsy
Shared letters muted; letters that set clumsily and clumsy apart highlighted. Shared run: 6. clumsily runs 8 letters (CCVCCVCV) against clumsy's 6 (CCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Grammar separator: clumsily vs clumsy
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: clumsily is anadverb and clumsyanadjective. On the page they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63185, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
clumsily is recorded at frequency rank #46,986, classified as anadv. clumsy is at rank #16,199, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈklʌmzi/.
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 63185, this pair ranks #84,393 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of clumsily vs clumsy
Shared letters: clmsuy. Private to "clumsily": i. Private to "clumsy": -.
"clumsily" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCV · "clumsy" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "clumsily" and "clumsy" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "clumsily" or "clumsy"?
After this comparison
Pair "clumsily" vs "clumsy" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "clumsily" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "clumsy" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #84,393 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "clumsily" and "clumsy" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "clumsy vs crummy". 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 #84,393 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.