Which to use
“prompted” is a verb and “promptly” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,593
- “prompted” frequency rank
- #9,083
- “promptly” frequency rank
- 17676
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | prompted | promptly |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of prompt | In a prompt manner. |
Where the eye mixes prompted and promptly
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. prompted (CCVCCCVC) and promptly (CCVCCCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between prompted and promptly
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: prompted is /ˈpɹɑmptɪd/ while promptly is /ˈpɹɑmptli/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17676, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
prompted is recorded at frequency rank #8,593, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈpɹɑmptɪd/. promptly is at rank #9,083, tagged as anadv, pronounced /ˈpɹɑmptli/.
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 17676, this pair ranks #449,868 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of prompted vs promptly
Shared letters: moprt. Private to "prompted": de. Private to "promptly": ly.
"prompted" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCCVC · "promptly" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "prompted" and "promptly" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "prompted" or "promptly"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "prompted" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "promptly" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #449,868 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "prompted" and "promptly" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "promoter vs prompted". 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 #449,868 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.