Especially or specially?
especially is an adverb meaning “In a special manner; specially”; specially is an adverb meaning “For a special purpose, person, or occasion”. In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) especially is about 16 times as common as specially.
What is the difference between especially and specially?
| especially | specially | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | adverb | adverb |
| Meaning | In a special manner; specially Particularly; to a greater extent than is normal | For a special purpose, person, or occasion proscribedextremely Apheretic form of especially |
| Example | He got up early especially | We had this cake made specially for your birthday |
| Pronunciation | /ɪˈspɛʃ.(ə.)li/ /əˈspɛʃ.(ə.)li/ /ɛsˈpɛʃ.(ə.)li/ | /ˈspɛʃəli/ |
| In writing | 162 times per million words | 10 times per million words |
Sources: especially and specially in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of especially and specially
especially
- 1
In a special manner; specially
He got up early especially
- 2
Particularly; to a greater extent than is normal
- 3
Exeptionally
The buildings are not especially large
- 4
Used to place greater emphasis upon someone or something
Invite them all, especially Molly
specially
- 1
For a special purpose, person, or occasion
We had this cake made specially for your birthday
- 2
Apheretic form of especially
- 3
proscribedextremely
She's specially good at running
- 4
proscribedin particular
I love all animals, specially cute furry ones
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, especially or specially?
especially appears 162 times per million words; specially 10 times per million words.
especially 162 times per million wordsspecially 10 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search especially vs specially?
“especially vs specially” is searched about 9,900 times a month on Google and 180 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“specially vs especially”, “especially or specially”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.