fitfully

adv

"fitfully" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“fitfully” is an uncommon English word, ranked #97,029 in English word frequency and used as an adverb.

#97,029
frequency rank, English
8
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - In a fitful manner; irregularly or unsteadily.

Key facts for fitfully
PropertyValue
Headwordfitfully
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdverb
Letters8
Frequency rank#97,029
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “fitfully” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). fitfully lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for fitfully is 8 letters long, classified as an adverb. Corpus data places it at rank #97,029 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "In a fitful manner; irregularly or unsteadily.".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for fitfully, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Etymologically, the entry records: From fitful + -ly. The correct English form is fitfully, spelled F-I-T-F-U-L-L-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    In a fitful manner; irregularly or unsteadily.

Etymology

From fitful + -ly.

This word in other languages

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 "fitfully"?
"fitfully" is spelled F-I-T-F-U-L-L-Y.
What does "fitfully" mean?
As an adverb, "fitfully" means: In a fitful manner; irregularly or unsteadily.
What is the origin of the word "fitfully"?
From fitful + -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.

Using “fitfully”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is F-I-T-F-U-L-L-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list