highly
/ˈhaɪli/
"highly" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“highly” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #1,367 in English word frequency and used as an adverb.
- #1,367
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 5
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - In a high or esteemed manner.
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 | highly |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adverb |
| IPA | /ˈhaɪli/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #1,367 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 5 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “highly” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for highly is 6 letters long, classified as an adverb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈhaɪli/. Corpus data places it at rank #1,367 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for highly, with forms such as "hgihly", "hhighly", and "higghly". 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 5 confusable-pair relationships, "hilly", "hugely", "highway", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English hiȝly, heȝly, heyȝliche, from Old English hēalīce (“highly”), equivalent to high + -ly. Cognate with Dutch hoogelijk (“highly”), German höchlich (“highly”), Danish højlig (“highly”), Swedish högligen (“highly”). The correct English form is highly, spelled H-I-G-H-L-Y.
Definition
- 1In a high or esteemed manner.
- 2Extremely; greatly; very much.
Etymology
From Middle English hiȝly, heȝly, heyȝliche, from Old English hēalīce (“highly”), equivalent to high + -ly. Cognate with Dutch hoogelijk (“highly”), German höchlich (“highly”), Danish højlig (“highly”), Swedish högligen (“highly”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: hgihly,hhighly,higghly,highhly,highlly,highlyy,highyl,higlhy,hihgly,ihghly
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of highly - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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
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Using “highly”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is H-I-G-H-L-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈhaɪli/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “hilly” - see the side-by-side comparison. highly vs hilly
- 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.