Which to use
“really” is an adverb and “Reilly” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #113
- “really” frequency rank
- #18,938
- “Reilly” frequency rank
- 19051
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | really | Reilly |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | In a way or manner that is real, not unreal. | A surname from Irish. |
Where the eye mixes really and Reilly
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: really vs Reilly
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: really is /ˈɹɪə.li/ while Reilly is /ˈɹaɪli/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - a in “really” becomes i in “Reilly”, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19051, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
really is recorded at frequency rank #113, classified as anadv, pronounced /ˈɹɪə.li/. Reilly is at rank #18,938, tagged as aname, pronounced /ˈɹaɪli/.
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 19051, this pair ranks #440,829 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of really vs Reilly
Shared letters: elry. Private to "really": a. Private to "Reilly": i.
"really" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV · "Reilly" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "really" for "Reilly" ever safe?
Frequency check: "really" vs "Reilly" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "really" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Reilly" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #440,829 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "really" and "Reilly" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "really vs reapply". 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 #440,829 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.