capably

adv

"capably" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“capably” is uncommon English (frequency #81,205 among 5,599 “C” headwords), classed as an adverb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#81,205
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - In a capable manner.

Corpus desk

Index EN-capably · capably · English

capably · rank #81,205 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #81,205
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH Carnatic

Nearest frequency peer: Carnatic (+1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “capably”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “capably” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for capably
PropertyValue
Headwordcapably
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdverb
Letters7
Frequency rank#81,205
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “capably” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).capablyfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “Carnatic” (#81,206), “Carolinian” (#81,207), “Caiaphas” (#81,201). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “capably” is #81,205. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

capably is uncommon English at frequency #81,205 among 5,599 “C” headwords, classed as anadverb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "In a capable manner.".

capably doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Etymologically, the entry records: From capable + -ly. The correct English form is capably, spelled C-A-P-A-B-L-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    In a capable manner.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how capably appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. They will all go down in polar history as leaders, these men. I believe Bowers would also have made a great name for himself if he had lived, and few polar ships have been commanded as capably as was the Terra Nova, by Pennell.
  2. Pederson capably channeled the emotions of every Dodgers fan in the building, punctuating his rowdy trip around the bases with a fist in the air, a chest-thump, a get-on-your-feet gesture to the crowd and a double-barreled finger-point to his dugout.

Etymology

From capable + -ly.

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

How do you spell "capably"?
"capably" is spelled C-A-P-A-B-L-Y.
What does "capably" mean?
As an adverb, "capably" means: In a capable manner.
What is the origin of the word "capably"?
From capable + -ly. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "capably", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list