Which to use
“criminally” and “critically” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #24,716
- “criminally” frequency rank
- #8,532
- “critically” frequency rank
- 33248
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | criminally | critically |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | In a criminal manner. | In a critical manner; with, or in terms of, criticism. |
Letter map: criminally vs critically
Shared letters muted; letters that set criminally and critically apart highlighted. Shared run: 8.
Corpus notes: criminally and critically
criminally and critically are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33248, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
criminally is recorded at frequency rank #24,716, classified as anadv. critically is at rank #8,532, tagged as anadv, pronounced /ˈkɹɪt.ɪk.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 33248, this pair ranks #331,072 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of criminally vs critically
Shared letters: acilry. Private to "criminally": mn. Private to "critically": t.
"criminally" · 10 letters · shape CCVCVCVCCV · "critically" · 10 letters · shape CCVCVCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- criminally ← ccriminally · cirminally · criimnally · crimianlly · criminallyy · criminaly · criminalyl · criminlaly
- critically ← ccritically · cirtically · criitcally · critcially · critiaclly · criticallyy · criticaly · criticalyl
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "criminally" and "critically" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "criminally" or "critically"?
Useful next steps
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "criminally" and "critically".
- Full dictionary entry for "criminally" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "critically" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #331,072 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "criminally" and "critically" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "criminality vs criminally". 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 #331,072 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.