Which to use
“mostly” is an adverb and “motley” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,568
- “mostly” frequency rank
- #25,849
- “motley” frequency rank
- 27417
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mostly | motley |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Mainly or chiefly; for the most part; usually, generally, on the whole. | Comprising greatly varied elements, to the point of incongruity. |
Where the eye mixes mostly and motley
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: mostly vs motley
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mostly is /ˈməʊstli/ while motley is /ˈmɒtli/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27417, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mostly is recorded at frequency rank #1,568, classified as anadv, pronounced /ˈməʊstli/. motley is at rank #25,849, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈmɒtli/.
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 27417, this pair ranks #379,076 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mostly vs motley
Shared letters: lmoty. Private to "mostly": s. Private to "motley": e.
"mostly" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV · "motley" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mostly" for "motley" ever safe?
Frequency check: "mostly" vs "motley" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "mostly" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "motley" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #379,076 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mostly" and "motley" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Moslem vs motley". 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 #379,076 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.