Which to use
“humbled” is an adjective and “humbly” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #20,669
- “humbled” frequency rank
- #23,306
- “humbly” frequency rank
- 43975
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | humbled | humbly |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | (usually qualifying a first-person pronoun) Grateful for the support of others, touched; honored, flattered. | In a humble manner. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set humbled and humbly apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: humbled is anadjective and humblyanadverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43975, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
humbled is recorded at frequency rank #20,669, classified as anadj. humbly is at rank #23,306, tagged as anadv, pronounced /ˈhʌmbli/.
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 43975, this pair ranks #234,884 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of humbled vs humbly
Shared letters: bhlmu. Private to "humbled": de. Private to "humbly": y.
"humbled" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC · "humbly" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "humbled" and "humbly" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "humbled" or "humbly"?
Remembering humbled vs humbly
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “humbled”; for an adverb, it's “humbly”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “humbled” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable