Which to use
“singles” is an adjective and “singly” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,396
- “singles” frequency rank
- #40,448
- “singly” frequency rank
- 43844
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | singles | singly |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Of or pertaining to unmarried people. | In a single or unaccompanied manner; without a companion. |
Letter map: singles vs singly
Shared letters muted; letters that set singles and singly apart highlighted. Shared run: 5.
Role in the sentence - singles and singly
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: singles is anadjective and singlyanadverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43844, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
singles is recorded at frequency rank #3,396, classified as anadj. singly is at rank #40,448, tagged as anadv, pronounced /ˈsɪŋ.ɡli/.
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 43844, this pair ranks #236,164 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of singles vs singly
Shared letters: gilns. Private to "singles": e. Private to "singly": y.
"singles" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC · "singly" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "singles" and "singly" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "singles" vs "singly" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
You've compared "singles" and "singly". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "singles" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "singly" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #236,164 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "singles" and "singly" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "singlet vs singly". 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 #236,164 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.