certainly
/ˈsɝ.tn̩.li/adverb
certainly is spelled C-E-R-T-A-I-N-L-Y. The wrong spelling people search most is certaintly: about 80 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 16 of all searches for the word. Certainly is an adverb meaning “In a way which is certain; with certainty”.
How many letters and syllables are in certainly?
| Letters | 9: C-E-R-T-A-I-N-L-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 100 times per million words; the 1,076th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 3; the most searched, certaintly, about 80 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell certainly?
Certainly is spelled C-E-R-T-A-I-N-L-Y. 3 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 10 of the searches for certainly in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is certainly?
Certainly appears 100 times per million words in written English, the 1,076th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce certainly?
- UK /ˈsɜː.tn̩.li/
- US /ˈsɝ.tn̩.li/
- US [ˈsɝ.ʔn̩.li]
Certainly has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-certainly.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of certainly
- more certainly comparative
- most certainly superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does certainly mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adverb
- 1
In a way which is certain; with certainty.
he verily thought he had young live frogs in his belly, qui vivebant ex alimento suo, that lived by his nourishment, and was so certainly persuaded of it, that for many years following he could not be rectified in his conceit.
- 2
Without doubt, surely.
The accident was certainly caused by human error.
- 3
An emphatic affirmative answer; of course.
Would you like it with ice? Certainly, and with lemon please.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Certainly in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | certainement , sûrement, sans nul doute, sans aucun doute |
| Portuguese | certamente, garantidamente , sem dúvida |
| Spanish | ciertamente, dejuramente, cierto que, certeramente , a todas luces |
| German | sicherlich, zweifellos, gewiss, freilich , sicher, natürlich |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does certainly come from?
From Middle English certeynly; equivalent to certain + -ly.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).