uniformvsuniformlyWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: uniform is a adjective, uniformly is an adverb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“uniform” is an adjective and “uniformly” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#4,131
“uniform” frequency rank
#22,846
“uniformly” frequency rank
26977
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature uniform uniformly
Definition Unvarying; all the same. In a uniform manner, consistently.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set uniform and uniformly apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
uniform
9 ch
uniformly

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: uniform is /ˈjunɪˌfɔɹm/ while uniformly is /ˈjunəfɔɹmli/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “uniform” sits inside “uniformly”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26977, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

uniform is recorded at frequency rank #4,131, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈjunɪˌfɔɹm/. uniformly is at rank #22,846, tagged as anadv, pronounced /ˈjunəfɔɹmli/.

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 26977, this pair ranks #382,577 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of uniform vs uniformly

Shared letters: fimnoru. Private to "uniform": -. Private to "uniformly": ly.

"uniform" · 7 letters · shape VCVCVCC  ·  "uniformly" · 9 letters · shape VCVCVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • uniformnuiform · uinform · unfiorm · unifform · unifomr · uniformm · uniforrm · unifrom
  • uniformlynuiformly · uinformly · unfiormly · unifformly · unifomrly · uniforlmy · uniformlly · uniformlyy

Frequency comparison

uniform#4,131
uniformly#22,846

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "uniform" and "uniformly" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "uniform" is an adjective and "uniformly" an adverb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "uniform" or "uniformly"?
"uniform" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,131 in our English list, against #22,846 for "uniformly". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering uniform vs uniformly

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “uniform”; for an adverb, it's “uniformly”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “uniform” 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