Which to use
“verily” is an adverb and “verity” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #37,272
- “verily” frequency rank
- #36,390
- “verity” frequency rank
- 73662
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verily | verity |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Truly; doubtless; honestly; in truth. | Truth, fact or reality, especially an enduring religious or ethical truth; veracity. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set verily and verity 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: verily is /ˈvɛɹ.əl.i/ while verity is /ˈvɛɹɪti/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - l in “verily” becomes t in “verity”, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73662, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
verily is recorded at frequency rank #37,272, classified as anadv, pronounced /ˈvɛɹ.əl.i/. verity is at rank #36,390, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈvɛɹɪti/.
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 73662, this pair ranks #38,854 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of verily vs verity
Shared letters: eirvy. Private to "verily": l. Private to "verity": t.
"verily" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "verity" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "verily" and "verity" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "verily" or "verity"?
Remembering verily vs verity
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adverb, it's “verily”; for a noun, it's “verity”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “verily” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable