Which to use
“deadly” is an adjective and “dearly” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,489
- “deadly” frequency rank
- #15,381
- “dearly” frequency rank
- 20870
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | deadly | dearly |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Subject to death; mortal. | In a dear or precious manner. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set deadly and dearly apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: deadly is /ˈdɛdli/ while dearly is /ˈdɪɹli/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - d in “deadly” becomes r in “dearly”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20870, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
deadly is recorded at frequency rank #5,489, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈdɛdli/. dearly is at rank #15,381, tagged as anadv, pronounced /ˈdɪɹli/.
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 20870, this pair ranks #428,061 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of deadly vs dearly
Shared letters: adely. Private to "deadly": -. Private to "dearly": r.
"deadly" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV · "dearly" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "deadly" and "dearly" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "deadly" or "dearly"?
Remembering deadly vs dearly
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “deadly”; for an adverb, it's “dearly”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “deadly” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable