cautiously

Name: cautiously, English Word Data
Creator: Wiktionary
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

/ˈkɔːʃəsli/

//ˈkɔːʃəsli// adv

By PlainSpell · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) · analyzed September 3, 2026

The verdict

“cautiously” has 14 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #19,040. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#19,040
frequency rank, English: 5,599
“C” headwords: 14
tracked misspellings: 2
confusable pairs

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

Corpus desk

Index EN-cautiously · cautiously · English

cautiously · rank #19,040 · 14 variants · 2 confusables

FREQ-MID #19,040
LEN-MEGA 10 letters
VOW-6 6 vowels
CONFUS-LOW 2 pairs
VAR-HIGH 14 variants
BOOK-DENSE 5,599
PHOTO-FINISH canonical

Nearest frequency peer: canonical (-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.

calves

80,964
Camille

80,963
canonical

80,962
cautiously

80,961
ceasefire

80,960
celery

80,959

What this shows “cautiously” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

cautiously vs curiously

80% similar

cautiously vs cautious

80% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for cautiously
Property	Value
Headword	cautiously
Language	English
Part of speech	Adverb
IPA	/ˈkɔːʃəsli/
Letters	10
Frequency rank	#19,040
Misspellings tracked	14
Confusable pairs	2
Source	Wiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “cautiously”

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).cautiouslylands here:

#19,040

#1#100#1K#10K#100K

← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “canonical” (#19,039), “ceasefire” (#19,041), “Camille” (#19,038). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “cautiously” is #19,040. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 14 spelling variants around cautiously (IPA /ˈkɔːʃəsli/), anadverb. Corpus frequency is #19,040 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Dominant gloss: "In a cautious manner.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 14 likely wrong-spelling variants for cautiously, with forms such as "acutiously", "catuiously", and "cauitously". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "curiously", "cautious", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From cautious + -ly. The correct English form is cautiously, spelled C-A-U-T-I-O-U-S-L-Y.

Definition

1
In a cautious manner.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

He said cautiously, "I do not think it right, Imperator."

Etymology

From cautious + -ly.

Synonyms

gingerly cannily carefully charily chary conservatively discreetly prudently safely tentatively warily

Antonyms

incautiously

This word in other languages

précautionneusement(Français)vorsichtig(Deutsch)cuidadosamente(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

acutiously
catuiously
cauitously
cautiosuly
cautioulsy
cautiouslly
cautiouslyy
cautioussly
cautiousyl
cautiuosly
cautoiusly
cauttiously
ccautiously
cuatiously

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of cautiously - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

Edit distance from "cautiously"

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 "cautiously"?

"cautiously" is spelled C-A-U-T-I-O-U-S-L-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈkɔːʃəsli/.

What does "cautiously" mean?

As an adverb, "cautiously" means: In a cautious manner.

What words are commonly confused with "cautiously"?

"cautiously" is commonly confused with "curiously", "cautious". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.

How do you pronounce "cautiously"?

The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "cautiously" is /ˈkɔːʃəsli/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.

What is the origin of the word "cautiously"?

From cautious + -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 "cautiously", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

attendants#19,017 antagonist#19,012 escalation#19,078 eyewitness#19,082

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (14 here; floor ≥5).

Chinatown14 variants Auschwitz14 variants entrances14 variants vandalism14 variants