Which to use
“grossed” is a verb and “grossly” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #23,286
- “grossed” frequency rank
- #18,841
- “grossly” frequency rank
- 42127
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | grossed | grossly |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of gross | Greatly; to a large degree, especially one large enough to be frankly appreciable. |
Letter map: grossed vs grossly
Shared letters muted; letters that set grossed and grossly apart highlighted. Shared run: 5. grossed (CCVCCVC) and grossly (CCVCCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Grammar separator: grossed vs grossly
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: grossed is averb and grosslyanadverb. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42127, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
grossed is recorded at frequency rank #23,286, classified as averb. grossly is at rank #18,841, tagged as anadv, pronounced /ˈɡɹoʊsli/.
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 42127, this pair ranks #252,066 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of grossed vs grossly
Shared letters: gors. Private to "grossed": de. Private to "grossly": ly.
"grossed" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC · "grossly" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "grossed" and "grossly" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "grossed" or "grossly" show up more?
After this comparison
You've compared "grossed" and "grossly". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "grossed" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "grossly" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #252,066 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "grossed" and "grossly" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "grossed vs grosser". 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 #252,066 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.