extraordinarilyvsextraordinaryWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: extraordinarily is a adverb, extraordinary is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#16,705
“extraordinarily” frequency rank
#3,879
“extraordinary” frequency rank
20584
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature extraordinarily extraordinary
Definition In an extraordinary manner. Not ordinary; exceptional; unusual.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set extraordinarily and extraordinary apart are highlighted. They share 13 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

15 ch
extraordinarily
13 ch
extraordinary

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: extraordinarily is anadverb and extraordinaryanadjective. On the page they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20584, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

extraordinarily is recorded at frequency rank #16,705, classified as anadv. extraordinary is at rank #3,879, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ɪksˈtɹɔː(ɹ)dɪnəɹi/.

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 20584, this pair ranks #430,056 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of extraordinarily vs extraordinary

Shared letters: adeinortxy. Private to "extraordinarily": l. Private to "extraordinary": -.

"extraordinarily" · 15 letters · shape VCCCVVCCVCVCVCV  ·  "extraordinary" · 13 letters · shape VCCCVVCCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • extraordinarilyetxraordinarily · exrtaordinarily · extarordinarily · extraodrinarily · extraorddinarily · extraordianrily · extraordinairly · extraordinarilly
  • extraordinaryetxraordinary · exrtaordinary · extarordinary · extraodrinary · extraorddinary · extraordianry · extraordinarry · extraordinaryy

Frequency comparison

extraordinarily#16,705
extraordinary#3,879

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "extraordinarily" and "extraordinary" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "extraordinarily" is an adverb and "extraordinary" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "extraordinarily" or "extraordinary"?
"extraordinary" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,879 in our English list, against #16,705 for "extraordinarily". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering extraordinarily vs extraordinary

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list