impeccablevsimpeccablyWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#20,960
“impeccable” frequency rank
#45,444
“impeccably” frequency rank
66404
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature impeccable impeccably
Definition Perfect, without faults, flaws or errors In a perfect or flawless manner.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set impeccable and impeccably apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

10 ch
impeccable
10 ch
impeccably

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: impeccable is /ɪmˈpɛkəbəl/ while impeccably is /ɪmˈpɛk.ə.bli/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - e in “impeccable” becomes y in “impeccably”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66404, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

impeccable is recorded at frequency rank #20,960, classified as anadj, pronounced /ɪmˈpɛkəbəl/. impeccably is at rank #45,444, tagged as anadv, pronounced /ɪmˈpɛk.ə.bli/.

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 66404, this pair ranks #68,164 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of impeccable vs impeccably

Shared letters: abceilmp. Private to "impeccable": -. Private to "impeccably": y.

"impeccable" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCCVCCV  ·  "impeccably" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • impeccableimepccable · immpeccable · impcecable · impecable · impecacble · impeccabble · impeccabel · impeccablle
  • impeccablyimepccably · immpeccably · impcecably · impecably · impecacbly · impeccabbly · impeccablly · impeccablyy

Frequency comparison

impeccable#20,960
impeccably#45,444

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "impeccable" and "impeccably" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "impeccable" is an adjective and "impeccably" an adverb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "impeccable" or "impeccably"?
"impeccable" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,960 in our English list, against #45,444 for "impeccably". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering impeccable vs impeccably

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “impeccable”; for an adverb, it's “impeccably”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “impeccable” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list