harshly
/ˈhɑːʃli/
"harshly" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“harshly” has 12 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #20,375. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #20,375
- frequency rank, English
- 23,837
- “H” headwords
- 12
- tracked misspellings
- 3
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - In a harsh manner; severely.
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 | harshly |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adverb |
| IPA | /ˈhɑːʃli/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #20,375 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 3 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “harshly” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 12 spelling variants around harshly (IPA /ˈhɑːʃli/), anadverb. Corpus frequency is #20,375 among 23,837 “H” headwords. Dominant gloss: "In a harsh manner; severely.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for harshly, with forms such as "ahrshly", "harhsly", and "harrshly". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "Hershey", "harsh", "hardly", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From harsh + -ly. The correct English form is harshly, spelled H-A-R-S-H-L-Y.
Definition
- 1In a harsh manner; severely.
Etymology
From harsh + -ly.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ahrshly
- harhsly
- harrshly
- harshhly
- harshlly
- harshlyy
- harshyl
- harslhy
- harsshly
- hasrhly
- hharshly
- hrashly
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of harshly - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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 "harshly"?
What does "harshly" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "harshly"?
How do you pronounce "harshly"?
What is the origin of the word "harshly"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “harshly”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is H-A-R-S-H-L-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈhɑːʃli/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “Hershey” - see the side-by-side comparison. harshly vs Hershey
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Same frequency band
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.