Which to use
“evident” is an adjective and “evidently” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,220
- “evident” frequency rank
- #12,970
- “evidently” frequency rank
- 20190
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | evident | evidently |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Obviously true by simple observation. | In a manner which makes the fact or conclusion evident; obviously; as may be clearly inferred. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set evident and evidently apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
evident and evidently form a confusable pair in the English index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “evident” sits inside “evidently” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20190, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
evident is recorded at frequency rank #7,220, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈɛv.ɪ.dənt/. evidently is at rank #12,970, tagged as anadv, pronounced /ˈɛvɪdəntli/.
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 20190, this pair ranks #432,883 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "evident" and "evidently" be used interchangeably?
Remembering evident vs evidently
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “evident”; for an adverb, it's “evidently”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “evident” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable