finely
/ˈfaɪnli/adverb
finely is spelled F-I-N-E-L-Y: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 3.3 times per million words in written English, the 14,509th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adverb, finely means “So as to produce a fine texture; into small, thin, or delicate pieces” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in finely?
| Letters | 6: F-I-N-E-L-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.3 times per million words; the 14,509th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search |
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 common is finely?
Finely appears 3.3 times per million words in written English, the 14,509th 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 finely?
- /ˈfaɪnli/
Finely has 2 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-finely.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with finely
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of finely
- finelier comparative
- more finely comparative
- fineliest superlative
- most finely superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does finely mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adverb
- 1
So as to produce a fine texture; into small, thin, or delicate pieces.
Fledglings can only be fed finely chopped meat.
- 2
In a fine, handsome or attractive way; very well.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does finely come from?
From Middle English finely, fynely, fynly, fineliche, finliche, fynliche, equivalent to fine + -ly.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).