blithely
/ˈblaɪðli/
"blithely" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“blithely” is uncommon English (frequency #56,617 among 31,241 “B” headwords), classed as an adverb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #56,617
- frequency rank, English
- 31,241
- “B” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Without care, concern, or consideration.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | blithely |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adverb |
| IPA | /ˈblaɪðli/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #56,617 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “blithely” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
blithely is uncommon English at frequency #56,617 among 31,241 “B” headwords, classed as anadverb, transcribed /ˈblaɪðli/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
No misspelling variants are generated for blithely in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English blythely, blyþely, bliþeliche, from Old English blīþelīċe (“gladly, blithely”), from Proto-West Germanic [Term?]; compare Dutch blijdelijk. By surface analysis, blithe + -ly. The correct English form is blithely, spelled B-L-I-T-H-E-L-Y.
Definition
- 1Without care, concern, or consideration.
- 2In a joyful, carefree manner.
- 3In a kind manner.
Etymology
From Middle English blythely, blyþely, bliþeliche, from Old English blīþelīċe (“gladly, blithely”), from Proto-West Germanic [Term?]; compare Dutch blijdelijk. By surface analysis, blithe + -ly.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “blithely”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-L-I-T-H-E-L-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈblaɪðli/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.