downwardly

adv

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"downwardly" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“downwardly” is uncommon English (frequency #89,311 among 3,470 “D” headwords), classed as an adverb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#89,311
frequency rank, English
3,470
“D” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - In a downward direction

Corpus desk

Index EN-downwardly · downwardly · English

downwardly · rank #89,311 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #89,311
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,470
  • PHOTO-FINISH downdraft

Nearest frequency peer: downdraft (-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 “downwardly”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for downwardly
PropertyValue
Headworddownwardly
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdverb
Letters10
Frequency rank#89,311
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “downwardly” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).downwardlyfalls 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: “downdraft” (#89,310), “dreamily” (#89,312), “Ducasse” (#89,313). Among 3,470 “D” headwords, “downwardly” is #89,311. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

downwardly is uncommon English at frequency #89,311 among 3,470 “D” headwords, classed as anadverb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "In a downward direction".

No generated misspelling entries exist for downwardly in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Etymologically, the entry records: From downward + -ly. The correct English form is downwardly, spelled D-O-W-N-W-A-R-D-L-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    In a downward direction

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. downwardly mobile

Etymology

From downward + -ly.

Antonyms

upwardly

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 "downwardly"?
"downwardly" is spelled D-O-W-N-W-A-R-D-L-Y.
What does "downwardly" mean?
As an adverb, "downwardly" means: In a downward direction
What is the origin of the word "downwardly"?
From downward + -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 "downwardly", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

dysmorphic#89,317energising#89,329cryogenics#89,268crossbreed#89,263

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list