Which to use
“severely” is an adverb and “severity” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #6,097
- “severely” frequency rank
- #11,114
- “severity” frequency rank
- 17211
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | severely | severity |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | In a severe manner. | The state of being severe. |
Letter map: severely vs severity
Shared letters muted; letters that set severely and severity apart highlighted. Shared run: 6.
Role in the sentence - severely and severity
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: severely is anadverb and severityanoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17211, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
severely is recorded at frequency rank #6,097, classified as anadv. severity is at rank #11,114, tagged as anoun, pronounced /sɪˈvɛɹɪti/.
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 17211, this pair ranks #452,903 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of severely vs severity
Shared letters: ersvy. Private to "severely": l. Private to "severity": it.
"severely" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV · "severity" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "severely" and "severity" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "severely" vs "severity" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
You've compared "severely" and "severity". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "severely" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "severity" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #452,903 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "severely" and "severity" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "severing vs severity". 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 #452,903 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.