Which to use
“painstaking” is an adjective and “painstakingly” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #31,690
- “painstaking” frequency rank
- #35,449
- “painstakingly” frequency rank
- 67139
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | painstaking | painstakingly |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Carefully attentive to details; studious; diligent in performing a process or procedure. | In a painstaking manner; very slowly and carefully. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set painstaking and painstakingly apart are highlighted. They share 11 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: painstaking is /ˈpeɪnˌsteɪkɪŋ/ while painstakingly is /ˈpeɪnˌsteɪkɪŋli/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “painstaking” sits inside “painstakingly”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67139, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
painstaking is recorded at frequency rank #31,690, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈpeɪnˌsteɪkɪŋ/. painstakingly is at rank #35,449, tagged as anadv, pronounced /ˈpeɪnˌsteɪkɪŋli/.
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 67139, this pair ranks #64,727 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of painstaking vs painstakingly
Shared letters: agiknpst. Private to "painstaking": -. Private to "painstakingly": ly.
"painstaking" · 11 letters · shape CVVCCCVCVCC · "painstakingly" · 13 letters · shape CVVCCCVCVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- painstaking ← apinstaking · painnstaking · painsatking · painsstaking · painstaikng · painstakign · painstakingg · painstakinng
- painstakingly ← apinstakingly · painnstakingly · painsatkingly · painsstakingly · painstaikngly · painstakignly · painstakinggly · painstakinglly
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "painstaking" and "painstakingly" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "painstaking" or "painstakingly"?
Remembering painstaking vs painstakingly
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “painstaking”; for an adverb, it's “painstakingly”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “painstaking” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable