hourly
/ˈaʊ̯ɚli/adjective, adverb, noun
hourly is spelled H-O-U-R-L-Y: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 5.1 times per million words in written English, the 11,015th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, hourly means “Occurring every hour” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in hourly?
| Letters | 6: H-O-U-R-L-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 5.1 times per million words; the 11,015th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is hourly?
Hourly appears 5.1 times per million words in written English, the 11,015th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce hourly?
- UK /ˈaʊ̯əli/
- US /ˈaʊ̯ɚli/
Hourly has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-hourly.wav, En-us-hourly.oga, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of hourly
- hourlies plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does hourly mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Occurring every hour.
There are hourly express buses.
- 2
Unsalaried, paid by the hour; (by extension) blue-collar.
adverb
- 1
At intervals of an hour.
Express buses depart hourly.
noun
- 1
Something produced each hour.
She never reads her hourly report, but let her hourlies be fifteen minutes late and she raises a ruckus.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Hourly in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense that occurs every hour:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | stündlich, allstündlich |
| Spanish | por hora |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does hourly come from?
From hour + -ly.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).