evilly

/ˈiːvəli/

//ˈiːvəli// adv

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

"evilly" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“evilly” is uncommon English (frequency #88,318 among 2,246 “E” headwords), classed as an adverb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#88,318
frequency rank, English
2,246
“E” headwords

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

Corpus desk

Index EN-evilly · evilly · English

evilly · rank #88,318 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #88,318
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,246
  • PHOTO-FINISH evilness

Nearest frequency peer: evilness (+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 “evilly”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for evilly
PropertyValue
Headwordevilly
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdverb
IPA/ˈiːvəli/
Letters6
Frequency rank#88,318
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “evilly” in English

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).evillyfalls 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: “evilness” (#88,319), “Eurogamer” (#88,316), “EUA” (#88,315). Among 2,246 “E” headwords, “evilly” is #88,318. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

evilly is uncommon English at frequency #88,318 among 2,246 “E” headwords, classed as anadverb, transcribed /ˈiːvəli/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "In an evil manner.".

evilly doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From evil + -ly, replacing earlier evil (“evilly”). The correct English form is evilly, spelled E-V-I-L-L-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    In an evil manner.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. He grinned evilly around and then pushed his way to the back of the crowd.

Etymology

From evil + -ly, replacing earlier evil (“evilly”).

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 "evilly"?
"evilly" is spelled E-V-I-L-L-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈiːvəli/.
What does "evilly" mean?
As an adverb, "evilly" means: In an evil manner.
How do you pronounce "evilly"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "evilly" is /ˈiːvəli/. 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 "evilly"?
From evil + -ly, replacing earlier evil (“evilly”). 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 "evilly", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Fierro#88,335flails#88,342Doogie#88,286Donnan#88,285

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list