Which to use
“finally” and “finely” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #690
- “finally” frequency rank
- #14,537
- “finely” frequency rank
- 15227
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | finally | finely |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | At the end or conclusion; ultimately. | So as to produce a fine texture; into small, thin, or delicate pieces. |
Where the eye mixes finally and finely
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between finally and finely
A purely visual mix-up. finally (/ˈfaɪ.nə.li/) and finely (/ˈfaɪnli/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15227, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
finally is recorded at frequency rank #690, classified as anadv, pronounced /ˈfaɪ.nə.li/. finely is at rank #14,537, tagged as anadv, pronounced /ˈfaɪnli/.
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 15227, this pair ranks #465,299 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of finally vs finely
Shared letters: filny. Private to "finally": a. Private to "finely": e.
"finally" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV · "finely" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "finally" for "finely" ever safe?
Frequency check: "finally" vs "finely" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "finally" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "finely" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #465,299 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "finally" and "finely" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "feely vs finely". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #465,299 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.