largelyvslargerConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#2,451
“largely” frequency rank
#1,605
“larger” frequency rank
4056
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature largely larger
Definition In a widespread or large manner. comparative form of large: more large

Where the eye mixes largely and larger

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. largely runs 7 letters (CVCCVCV) against larger's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
largely
6 ch
larger

Look-alike desk: largely vs larger

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: largely is /ˈlɑːd͡ʒ.li/ while larger is /ˈlɑɹ.d͡ʒɚ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4056, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

largely is recorded at frequency rank #2,451, classified as anadv, pronounced /ˈlɑːd͡ʒ.li/. larger is at rank #1,605, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈlɑɹ.d͡ʒɚ/.

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 4056, this pair ranks #520,136 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of largely vs larger

Shared letters: aeglr. Private to "largely": y. Private to "larger": -.

"largely" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "larger" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • largely ← alrgely · lagrely · laregly · largelly · largelyy · largeyl · larggely · largley
  • larger ← alrger · lagrer · laregr · largerr · largger · largre · larrger · llarger

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "largely" and "larger" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "largely" is an adverb and "larger" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary English text, does "largely" or "larger" show up more?
"larger" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,605 in our English list, against #2,451 for "largely". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "largely" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "larger" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #520,136 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "largely" and "larger" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "larger vs laver". 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 #520,136 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list