Which to use
“publically” and “publicly” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #42,352
- “publically” frequency rank
- #4,479
- “publicly” frequency rank
- 46831
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | publically | publicly |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Rare spelling of publicly. | In public, openly, in an open and public manner. |
Letter map: publically vs publicly
Shared letters muted; letters that set publically and publicly apart highlighted. Shared run: 8. publically runs 10 letters (CVCCVCVCCV) against publicly's 8 (CVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Pair insight - publically / publicly
publically and publicly are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46831, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
publically is recorded at frequency rank #42,352, classified as anadv. publicly is at rank #4,479, tagged as anadv, pronounced /ˈpʌblɪkli/.
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 46831, this pair ranks #208,052 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of publically vs publicly
Shared letters: bcilpuy. Private to "publically": a. Private to "publicly": -.
"publically" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCVCCV · "publicly" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- publically ← pbulically · ppublically · pubblically · pubilcally · publcially · publiaclly · publicallyy · publicaly
- publicly ← pbulicly · ppublicly · pubblicly · pubilcly · publcily · publiccly · publiclly · publiclyy
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "publically" and "publicly" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "publically" vs "publicly" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "publically" and "publicly".
- Full dictionary entry for "publically" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "publicly" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #208,052 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "publically" and "publicly" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "publicity vs publicly". 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 #208,052 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.