Which to use
“courtesy” is a noun and “courtly” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,778
- “courtesy” frequency rank
- #47,552
- “courtly” frequency rank
- 53330
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | courtesy | courtly |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Polite behavior. | Befitting of a royal court; reflecting the manners or behaviour of people at court. |
Where the eye mixes courtesy and courtly
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. courtesy runs 8 letters (CVVCCVCV) against courtly's 7 (CVVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses courtesy with courtly
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: courtesy is /ˈkɜːtəsi/ while courtly is /ˈkɔːtli/. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53330, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
courtesy is recorded at frequency rank #5,778, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɜːtəsi/. courtly is at rank #47,552, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈkɔːtli/.
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 53330, this pair ranks #149,867 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of courtesy vs courtly
Shared letters: cortuy. Private to "courtesy": es. Private to "courtly": l.
"courtesy" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVCV · "courtly" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "courtesy" for "courtly" ever safe?
Frequency check: "courtesy" vs "courtly" - which ranks higher?
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 "courtesy" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "courtly" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #149,867 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "courtesy" and "courtly" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "courtly vs covertly". 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 #149,867 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.