Which to use
“legacy” is a noun and “legally” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,825
- “legacy” frequency rank
- #5,058
- “legally” frequency rank
- 8883
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | legacy | legally |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Money or property bequeathed to someone in a will. | As permitted by law; not contrary to law. |
Where the eye mixes legacy and legally
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. legacy runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against legally's 7 (CVCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: legacy vs legally
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: legacy is /ˈlɛɡəsi/ while legally is /ˈliːɡəli/. 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 (noun vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8883, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
legacy is recorded at frequency rank #3,825, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈlɛɡəsi/. legally is at rank #5,058, tagged as anadv, pronounced /ˈliːɡəli/.
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 8883, this pair ranks #500,218 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of legacy vs legally
Shared letters: aegly. Private to "legacy": c. Private to "legally": -.
"legacy" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "legally" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "legacy" for "legally" ever safe?
Which is more common, "legacy" or "legally"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "legacy" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "legally" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #500,218 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "legacy" and "legally" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Lally vs legally". 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 #500,218 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.