Which to use
“scarce” is an adjective and “scarcely” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,856
- “scarce” frequency rank
- #18,948
- “scarcely” frequency rank
- 31804
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | scarce | scarcely |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Uncommon, rare; difficult to find; insufficient to meet a demand. | Probably not. |
Where the eye mixes scarce and scarcely
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. scarce runs 6 letters (CCVCCV) against scarcely's 8 (CCVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between scarce and scarcely
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: scarce is /ˈskɛəs/ while scarcely is /ˈskɛəsli/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “scarce” sits inside “scarcely”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31804, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
scarce is recorded at frequency rank #12,856, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈskɛəs/. scarcely is at rank #18,948, tagged as anadv, pronounced /ˈskɛəsli/.
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 31804, this pair ranks #343,044 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of scarce vs scarcely
Shared letters: acers. Private to "scarce": -. Private to "scarcely": ly.
"scarce" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV · "scarcely" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "scarce" and "scarcely" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "scarce" or "scarcely"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "scarce" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "scarcely" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #343,044 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "scarce" and "scarcely" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "scarce vs scorch". 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 #343,044 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.