Which to use
“intentional” is an adjective and “intentionally” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10,874
- “intentional” frequency rank
- #9,351
- “intentionally” frequency rank
- 20225
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | intentional | intentionally |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Intended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily. | In an intentional manner; on purpose. |
Where the eye mixes intentional and intentionally
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence. intentional runs 11 letters (VCCVCCVVCVC) against intentionally's 13 (VCCVCCVVCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses intentional with intentionally
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: intentional is /ɪnˈtɛnʃənəl/ while intentionally is /ɪnˈtɛn(t)ʃənəli/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “intentional” sits inside “intentionally”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20225, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
intentional is recorded at frequency rank #10,874, classified as anadj, pronounced /ɪnˈtɛnʃənəl/. intentionally is at rank #9,351, tagged as anadv, pronounced /ɪnˈtɛn(t)ʃənəli/.
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 20225, this pair ranks #432,614 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of intentional vs intentionally
Shared letters: aeilnot. Private to "intentional": -. Private to "intentionally": y.
"intentional" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCCVVCVC · "intentionally" · 13 letters · shape VCCVCCVVCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- intentional ← inetntional · inntentional · intenitonal · intenntional · intentinoal · intentioanl · intentionall · intentionla
- intentionally ← inetntionally · inntentionally · intenitonally · intenntionally · intentinoally · intentioanlly · intentionallyy · intentionaly
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "intentional" and "intentionally" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "intentional" or "intentionally"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "intentional" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "intentionally" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #432,614 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "intentional" and "intentionally" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "intentional vs intentioned". 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 #432,614 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.