thicklyvsthirdlyWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“thickly” and “thirdly” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#45,698
“thickly” frequency rank
#26,995
“thirdly” frequency rank
72693
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature thickly thirdly
Definition In a thick manner. In the third place; third in a row.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set thickly and thirdly apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
thickly
7 ch
thirdly

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

thickly and thirdly form a confusable pair in the English index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 72693, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

thickly is recorded at frequency rank #45,698, classified as anadv, pronounced /ˈθɪkli/. thirdly is at rank #26,995, tagged as anadv, pronounced /ˈθɜːdli/.

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 72693, this pair ranks #42,204 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Frequency comparison

thickly#45,698
thirdly#26,995

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "thickly" and "thirdly" be used interchangeably?
No, "thickly" and "thirdly" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering thickly vs thirdly

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “thickly” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list