heavily

/ˈhɛvɪli/

//ˈhɛvɪli// adv

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

"heavily" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“heavily” has 10 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #2,793. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#2,793
frequency rank, English
2,646
“H” headwords
10
tracked misspellings
6
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - With a great weight.

Corpus desk

Index EN-heavily · heavily · English

heavily · rank #2,793 · 10 variants · 6 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #2,793
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 6 pairs
  • VAR-MID 10 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,646
  • PHOTO-FINISH he'll

Nearest frequency peer: he'll (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “heavily”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “heavily” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

heavily vs heavy
71% similar
heavily vs heaving
71% similar
heavily vs Healy
57% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for heavily
PropertyValue
Headwordheavily
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdverb
IPA/ˈhɛvɪli/
Letters7
Frequency rank#2,793
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs6
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “heavily”

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).heavilylands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “he'll” (#2,792), “hide” (#2,794), “expansion” (#2,791). Among 2,646 “H” headwords, “heavily” is #2,793. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 10 spelling variants around heavily (IPA /ˈhɛvɪli/), anadverb. Corpus frequency is #2,793 among 2,646 “H” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for heavily, with forms such as "ehavily", "haevily", and "heaivly". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 6 confusable-pair relationships, "heavy", "heaving", "Healy", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English hevely, hevyliche, from Old English hefiġlīċe (“heavily; grievously”), equivalent to heavy + -ly. The correct English form is heavily, spelled H-E-A-V-I-L-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    With a great weight.
  2. 2
    To a considerable degree, to a great extent.
  3. 3
    In a manner designed for heavy duty.
  4. 4
    So as to be thick or heavy.
  5. 5
    In a laboured manner.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. heavily burdened
  2. She fell heavily into bed.

Etymology

From Middle English hevely, hevyliche, from Old English hefiġlīċe (“heavily; grievously”), equivalent to heavy + -ly.

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ehavily
  • haevily
  • heaivly
  • heavilly
  • heavilyy
  • heaviyl
  • heavliy
  • heavvily
  • hevaily
  • hheavily

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of heavily - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

ehavily2haevily2heaivly2heavilly1heavilyy1heaviyl2heavliy2heavvily1
Edit distance from "heavily"

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 "heavily"?
"heavily" is spelled H-E-A-V-I-L-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈhɛvɪli/.
What does "heavily" mean?
As an adverb, "heavily" means: With a great weight.
What words are commonly confused with "heavily"?
"heavily" is commonly confused with "heavy", "heaving", "Healy". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "heavily"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "heavily" is /ˈhɛvɪli/. 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 "heavily"?
From Middle English hevely, hevyliche, from Old English hefiġlīċe (“heavily; grievously”), equivalent to heavy + -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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "heavily", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

degrees#2,784refused#2,806checked#2,779writers#2,769

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (10 here; floor ≥5).

messages10 variantsbaseball10 variantsupdated10 variantscausing10 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list