effectively
ef·fec·tive·ly/ɪˈfɛktɪvli/adverb
effectively is spelled E-F-F-E-C-T-I-V-E-L-Y, 4 syllables: ef·fec·tive·ly. The wrong spelling people search most is effectivley: about 50 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 30 of all searches for the word. Effectively is an adverb meaning “In an efficient or effective manner; with powerful effect”.
How many letters and syllables are in effectively?
| Letters | 11: E-F-F-E-C-T-I-V-E-L-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4: ef·fec·tive·ly |
| In writing | 31 times per million words; the 3,052nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 2; the most searched, effectivley, about 50 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; 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 effectively?
Effectively is spelled E-F-F-E-C-T-I-V-E-L-Y. 2 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 25 of the searches for effectively 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 effectively?
Effectively appears 31 times per million words in written English, the 3,052nd 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 effectively?
- /ɪˈfɛktɪvli/
Effectively has 4 syllables, split ef·fec·tive·ly in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-effectively.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Gt59514-effectivity.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of effectively
- more effectively comparative
- most effectively superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does effectively mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adverb
- 1
In an efficient or effective manner; with powerful effect.
- 2
Essentially, in effect, for all practical purposes.
On paper, the answer seems to be yes, but, effectively, the answer is no.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Effectively in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | efficacement |
| German | effektiv, wirksam , tatsächlich |
| Portuguese | efetivamente, eficazmente |
| Spanish | efectivamente |
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.