earthly
/ˈəːθli/
"earthly" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“earthly” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #19,069 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #19,069
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 5
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Relating to the earth or this world, as opposed to heaven; terrestrial.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | earthly |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈəːθli/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #19,069 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 5 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “earthly” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for earthly is 7 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈəːθli/. Corpus data places it at rank #19,069 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for earthly, with forms such as "aerthly", "earhtly", and "earrthly". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 5 confusable-pair relationships, "earths", "earthy", "early", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English erthely, erthlich, ierðlich, from Old English eorþlīċ, corresponding to earth + -ly. Cognate with Old Norse jarðligr (“earthly”). The correct English form is earthly, spelled E-A-R-T-H-L-Y.
Definition
- 1Relating to the earth or this world, as opposed to heaven; terrestrial.
- 2Used for emphasis
- 3Made of earth; earthy.
Etymology
From Middle English erthely, erthlich, ierðlich, from Old English eorþlīċ, corresponding to earth + -ly. Cognate with Old Norse jarðligr (“earthly”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: aerthly,earhtly,earrthly,earthhly,earthlly,earthlyy,earthyl,eartlhy,eartthly,eatrhly,erathly
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of earthly - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 “earthly”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is E-A-R-T-H-L-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈəːθli/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “earths” - see the side-by-side comparison. earthly vs earths
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.