Which to use
“dearly” is an adverb and “decry” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #15,381
- “dearly” frequency rank
- #47,010
- “decry” frequency rank
- 62391
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dearly | decry |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | In a dear or precious manner. | To denounce as harmful. |
Where the eye mixes dearly and decry
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: dearly vs decry
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dearly is /ˈdɪɹli/ while decry is /dɪˈkɹaɪ/. 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 (adverb vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62391, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dearly is recorded at frequency rank #15,381, classified as anadv, pronounced /ˈdɪɹli/. decry is at rank #47,010, tagged as averb, pronounced /dɪˈkɹaɪ/.
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 62391, this pair ranks #88,754 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of dearly vs decry
Shared letters: dery. Private to "dearly": al. Private to "decry": c.
"dearly" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV · "decry" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "dearly" and "decry" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "dearly" or "decry" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "dearly" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "decry" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #88,754 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dearly" and "decry" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "decry vs derp". 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 #88,754 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.