Which to use
“reliable” is an adjective and “reliably” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,404
- “reliable” frequency rank
- #17,224
- “reliably” frequency rank
- 21628
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | reliable | reliably |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Suitable or fit to be relied on; worthy of dependence, reliance or trust; dependable, trustworthy | In a reliable manner. |
Letter map: reliable vs reliably
Shared letters muted; letters that set reliable and reliably apart highlighted. Shared run: 7.
Role in the sentence - reliable and reliably
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: reliable is anadjective and reliablyanadverb. On the page they differ by a single letter - e in “reliable” becomes y in “reliably”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21628, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
reliable is recorded at frequency rank #4,404, classified as anadj, pronounced /ɹɪˈlaɪəbl̩/. reliably is at rank #17,224, tagged as anadv.
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 21628, this pair ranks #422,508 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of reliable vs reliably
Shared letters: abeilr. Private to "reliable": -. Private to "reliably": y.
"reliable" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCCV · "reliably" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "reliable" and "reliably" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "reliable" vs "reliably" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "reliable" and "reliably".
- Full dictionary entry for "reliable" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "reliably" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #422,508 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "reliable" and "reliably" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "reliable vs reusable". 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 #422,508 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.