expert vs expertly, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“expert” is an adjective and “expertly” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,677
“expert” frequency rank: #31,549
“expertly” frequency rank: 34226
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	expert	expertly
Definition	Extraordinary capable or knowledgeable.	In an expert manner; with great skill.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set expert and expertly apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch

expert

8 ch

expertly

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: expert is /ˈɛk.spɜːt/ while expertly is /ˈɛk.spɝt.li/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “expert” sits inside “expertly”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34226, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

expert is recorded at frequency rank #2,677, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈɛk.spɜːt/. expertly is at rank #31,549, tagged as anadv, pronounced /ˈɛk.spɝt.li/.

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 34226, this pair ranks #322,583 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of expert vs expertly

Shared letters: eprtx. Private to "expert": -. Private to "expertly": ly.

"expert" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC · "expertly" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

expert ← epxert · exeprt · experrt · expertt · expetr · exppert · expret · exxpert
expertly ← epxertly · exeprtly · experlty · experrtly · expertlly · expertlyy · experttly · expertyl

Frequency comparison

expert#2,677

expertly#31,549

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "expert" and "expertly" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "expert" is an adjective and "expertly" an adverb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "expert" or "expertly"?

"expert" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,677 in our English list, against #31,549 for "expertly". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering expert vs expertly

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “expert”; for an adverb, it's “expertly”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “expert” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable