# highly

> English word · Adverb · IPA /ˈhaɪli/ · frequency rank #1,367

## Definitions
1. In a high or esteemed manner.
2. Extremely; 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”).

## Easily confused with
- **hilly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/highly-vs-hilly)
- **hugely** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/highly-vs-hugely)
- **highway** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/highly-vs-highway)
- **high** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/high-vs-highly)
- **higher** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/higher-vs-highly)

## Common misspellings (10)
`hgihly`, `hhighly`, `higghly`, `highhly`, `highlly`, `highlyy`, `highyl`, `higlhy`, `hihgly`, `ihghly`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/highly