Which to use
“enormous” is an adjective and “enormously” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,669
- “enormous” frequency rank
- #17,357
- “enormously” frequency rank
- 22026
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | enormous | enormously |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Deviating from the norm; unusual, extraordinary. | Extremely, greatly: to an enormous degree. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set enormous and enormously apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: enormous is anadjective and enormouslyanadverb. On the page they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “enormous” sits inside “enormously”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22026, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
enormous is recorded at frequency rank #4,669, classified as anadj, pronounced /ɪˈnɔː.məs/. enormously is at rank #17,357, 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 22026, this pair ranks #419,616 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of enormous vs enormously
Shared letters: emnorsu. Private to "enormous": -. Private to "enormously": ly.
"enormous" · 8 letters · shape VCVCCVVC · "enormously" · 10 letters · shape VCVCCVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- enormous ← ennormous · enomrous · enormmous · enormosu · enormouss · enormuos · enoromus · enorrmous
- enormously ← ennormously · enomrously · enormmously · enormosuly · enormoulsy · enormouslly · enormouslyy · enormoussly
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "enormous" and "enormously" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "enormous" or "enormously"?
Remembering enormous vs enormously
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “enormous”; for an adverb, it's “enormously”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “enormous” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable