# dally vs dearly

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### dally
*verb · IPA /ˈdæli/ · frequency rank #37,876*
To waste time in trivial activities, or in idleness; to trifle.

### dearly
*adverb · IPA /ˈdɪɹli/ · frequency rank #15,381*
In a dear or precious manner.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dally-vs-dearly