Which to use
“instantly” and “intently” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,864
- “instantly” frequency rank
- #30,100
- “intently” frequency rank
- 34964
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | instantly | intently |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | At once; without delay. | In an intent or focused manner. |
Where the eye mixes instantly and intently
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. instantly runs 9 letters (VCCCVCCCV) against intently's 8 (VCCVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between instantly and intently
A purely visual mix-up. instantly (/ˈɪnstəntli/) and intently (/ɪnˈtɛntli/) 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 34964, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
instantly is recorded at frequency rank #4,864, classified as anadv, pronounced /ˈɪnstəntli/. intently is at rank #30,100, tagged as anadv, pronounced /ɪnˈtɛntli/.
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 34964, this pair ranks #316,110 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of instantly vs intently
Shared letters: ilnty. Private to "instantly": as. Private to "intently": e.
"instantly" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCCCV · "intently" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "instantly" for "intently" ever safe?
Which is more common, "instantly" or "intently"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "instantly" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "intently" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #316,110 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "instantly" and "intently" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "intensely vs intently". 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 #316,110 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.