Which to use
“marginal” is an adjective and “marginally” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #11,069
- “marginal” frequency rank
- #20,995
- “marginally” frequency rank
- 32064
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | marginal | marginally |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Of, relating to, or located at or near a margin or edge; also figurative usages of location and margin (edge). | In a marginal manner, or to a marginal extent; barely sufficiently; slightly. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set marginal and marginally apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
marginal and marginally form a confusable pair in the English index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “marginal” sits inside “marginally” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32064, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
marginal is recorded at frequency rank #11,069, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈmɑː.d͡ʒɪ.nəl/. marginally is at rank #20,995, tagged as anadv, pronounced /ˈmɑɹd͡ʒɪnəli/.
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 32064, this pair ranks #340,937 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "marginal" and "marginally" be used interchangeably?
Remembering marginal vs marginally
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “marginal”; for an adverb, it's “marginally”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “marginal” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable