Which to use
“vertical” is an adjective and “vertically” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,646
- “vertical” frequency rank
- #15,938
- “vertically” frequency rank
- 21584
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | vertical | vertically |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Standing, pointing, or moving straight up or down; parallel to the local direction of gravity; along the direction of a plumb line; perpendicular to something horizontal. | In a vertical direction or position. |
Where the eye mixes vertical and vertically
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses vertical with vertically
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vertical is /ˈvɜː.tɪ.kəl/ while vertically is /ˈvɜː.tɪ.kl̩i/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “vertical” sits inside “vertically”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21584, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
vertical is recorded at frequency rank #5,646, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈvɜː.tɪ.kəl/. vertically is at rank #15,938, tagged as anadv, pronounced /ˈvɜː.tɪ.kl̩i/.
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 21584, this pair ranks #422,833 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of vertical vs vertically
Shared letters: aceilrtv. Private to "vertical": -. Private to "vertically": y.
"vertical" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC · "vertically" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- vertical ← evrtical · veritcal · verrtical · vertcial · vertiacl · verticall · verticcal · verticla
- vertically ← evrtically · veritcally · verrtically · vertcially · vertiaclly · verticallyy · verticaly · verticalyl
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "vertical" for "vertically" ever safe?
Which is more common, "vertical" or "vertically"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "vertical" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "vertically" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #422,833 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "vertical" and "vertically" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vertical vs vertices". 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 #422,833 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.