Which to use
“poor” is an adjective and “poorly” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #855
- “poor” frequency rank
- #6,082
- “poorly” frequency rank
- 6937
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | poor | poorly |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | With no or few possessions or money, particularly in relation to contemporaries who do have them. | In a poor manner or condition; without plenty, or sufficiency, or suitable provision for comfort. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set poor and poorly apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
poor and poorly 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) - “poor” sits inside “poorly” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6937, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
poor is recorded at frequency rank #855, classified as anadj, pronounced /pʊɚ/. poorly is at rank #6,082, tagged as anadv, pronounced /ˈpʊə.li/.
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 6937, this pair ranks #509,330 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "poor" and "poorly" be used interchangeably?
Remembering poor vs poorly
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “poor”; for an adverb, it's “poorly”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “poor” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable