Which to use
“intricate” is an adjective and “intricately” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #13,937
- “intricate” frequency rank
- #40,297
- “intricately” frequency rank
- 54234
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | intricate | intricately |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Having a great deal of fine detail or complexity. | In an intricate manner; with involution or infoldings; with perplexity or intricacy. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set intricate and intricately apart are highlighted. They share 9 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: intricate is anadjective and intricatelyanadverb. On the page they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “intricate” sits inside “intricately”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54234, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
intricate is recorded at frequency rank #13,937, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈɪn.tɹɪ.kət/. intricately is at rank #40,297, 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 54234, this pair ranks #142,688 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of intricate vs intricately
Shared letters: aceinrt. Private to "intricate": -. Private to "intricately": ly.
"intricate" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCVCV · "intricately" · 11 letters · shape VCCCVCVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- intricate ← inntricate · inrticate · intircate · intrciate · intriacte · intricaet · intricatte · intriccate
- intricately ← inntricately · inrticately · intircately · intrciately · intriactely · intricaetly · intricatelly · intricatelyy
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "intricate" and "intricately" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "intricate" or "intricately"?
Remembering intricate vs intricately
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “intricate”; for an adverb, it's “intricately”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “intricate” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable