Which to use
“distinctive” is an adjective and “distinctively” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,123
- “distinctive” frequency rank
- #38,809
- “distinctively” frequency rank
- 45932
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | distinctive | distinctively |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Distinguishing, used to or enabling the distinguishing of some thing. | In a distinctive manner; in a way that is notable for its difference. |
Letter map: distinctive vs distinctively
Shared letters muted; letters that set distinctive and distinctively apart highlighted. Shared run: 11.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: distinctive is anadjective and distinctivelyanadverb. On the page they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “distinctive” sits inside “distinctively”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45932, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
distinctive is recorded at frequency rank #7,123, classified as anadj, pronounced /dɪˈstɪŋktɪv/. distinctively is at rank #38,809, tagged as anadv.
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 45932, this pair ranks #216,565 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of distinctive vs distinctively
Shared letters: cdeinstv. Private to "distinctive": -. Private to "distinctively": ly.
"distinctive" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCCCVCV · "distinctively" · 13 letters · shape CVCCVCCCVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- distinctive ← ddistinctive · disitnctive · disstinctive · disticntive · distincctive · distincitve · distinctiev · distinctivve
- distinctively ← ddistinctively · disitnctively · disstinctively · disticntively · distincctively · distincitvely · distinctievly · distinctivelly