Which to use
“intellectual” is an adjective and “intellectually” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,310
- “intellectual” frequency rank
- #18,593
- “intellectually” frequency rank
- 22903
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | intellectual | intellectually |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pertaining to, or performed by, the intellect; mental or cognitive. | In an intellectual manner. |
Letter map: intellectual vs intellectually
Shared letters muted; letters that set intellectual and intellectually apart highlighted. Shared run: 12.
Role in the sentence - intellectual and intellectually
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: intellectual is anadjective and intellectuallyanadverb. On the page they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “intellectual” sits inside “intellectually”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22903, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
intellectual is recorded at frequency rank #4,310, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˌɪntəˈlɛkt͡ʃʊəl/. intellectually is at rank #18,593, tagged as anadv.
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 22903, this pair ranks #413,214 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of intellectual vs intellectually
Shared letters: aceilntu. Private to "intellectual": -. Private to "intellectually": y.
"intellectual" · 12 letters · shape VCCVCCVCCVVC · "intellectually" · 14 letters · shape VCCVCCVCCVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- intellectual ← inetllectual · inntellectual · intelectual · intelelctual · intellcetual · intellecctual · intellectaul · intellecttual
- intellectually ← inetllectually · inntellectually · intelectually · intelelctually · intellcetually · intellecctually · intellectaully · intellecttually
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "intellectual" and "intellectually" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "intellectual" or "intellectually"?
After this comparison
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "intellectual" and "intellectually".
- Full dictionary entry for "intellectual" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "intellectually" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #413,214 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- 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 #413,214 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.