Which to use
“utter” is an adjective and “utterly” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,003
- “utter” frequency rank
- #6,974
- “utterly” frequency rank
- 15977
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | utter | utterly |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To the furthest or most extreme extent; absolute, complete, total, unconditional. | Completely; entirely; to the fullest extent. |
Where the eye mixes utter and utterly
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: utter vs utterly
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: utter is /ˈʌtə/ while utterly is /ˈʌt.ə(ɹ).li/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “utter” sits inside “utterly”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15977, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
utter is recorded at frequency rank #9,003, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈʌtə/. utterly is at rank #6,974, tagged as anadv, pronounced /ˈʌt.ə(ɹ).li/.
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 15977, this pair ranks #460,657 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of utter vs utterly
Shared letters: ertu. Private to "utter": -. Private to "utterly": ly.
"utter" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC · "utterly" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "utter" for "utterly" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "utter" or "utterly" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "utter" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "utterly" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #460,657 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "utter" and "utterly" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Utley vs utter". 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 #460,657 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.