Which to use
“embarrassing” is a verb and “embarrassingly” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,595
- “embarrassing” frequency rank
- #38,383
- “embarrassingly” frequency rank
- 43978
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | embarrassing | embarrassingly |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | present participle and gerund of embarrass | In an embarrassing manner. |
Where the eye mixes embarrassing and embarrassingly
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 12 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between embarrassing and embarrassingly
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: embarrassing is /ɪmˈbæɹ.ə.sɪŋ/ while embarrassingly is /ɪmˈbæɹəsɪŋli/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “embarrassing” sits inside “embarrassingly”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43978, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
embarrassing is recorded at frequency rank #5,595, classified as averb, pronounced /ɪmˈbæɹ.ə.sɪŋ/. embarrassingly is at rank #38,383, tagged as anadv, pronounced /ɪmˈbæɹəsɪŋli/.
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 43978, this pair ranks #234,857 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of embarrassing vs embarrassingly
Shared letters: abegimnrs. Private to "embarrassing": -. Private to "embarrassingly": ly.
"embarrassing" · 12 letters · shape VCCVCCVCCVCC · "embarrassingly" · 14 letters · shape VCCVCCVCCVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- embarrassing ← ebmarrassing · emabrrassing · embararssing · embarassing · embarrasing · embarrasisng · embarrassign · embarrassingg
- embarrassingly ← ebmarrassingly · emabrrassingly · embararssingly · embarassingly · embarrasingly · embarrasisngly · embarrassignly · embarrassinggly
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "embarrassing" and "embarrassingly" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "embarrassing" vs "embarrassingly" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "embarrassing" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "embarrassingly" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #234,857 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- 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 #234,857 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.