Which to use
“soundly” is an adverb and “sundry” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #30,238
- “soundly” frequency rank
- #39,123
- “sundry” frequency rank
- 69361
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | soundly | sundry |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | In a thorough manner; in manner free of defect or deficiency. | More than one or two but not very many; a number of, several. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set soundly and sundry apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: soundly is /ˈsaʊnd.lɪ/ while sundry is /ˈsʌnd.ɹi/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69361, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
soundly is recorded at frequency rank #30,238, classified as anadv, pronounced /ˈsaʊnd.lɪ/. sundry is at rank #39,123, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈsʌnd.ɹi/.
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 69361, this pair ranks #54,913 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of soundly vs sundry
Shared letters: dnsuy. Private to "soundly": lo. Private to "sundry": r.
"soundly" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCCV · "sundry" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "soundly" and "sundry" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "soundly" or "sundry"?
Remembering soundly vs sundry
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adverb, it's “soundly”; for an adjective, it's “sundry”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “soundly” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable