illegitimately

adv

"illegitimately" is a 14-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“illegitimately” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adverb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
14
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - In an illegitimate manner.

Corpus desk

Index EN-illegitimately · illegitimately · English

illegitimately · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 14 letters
  • VOW-7 7 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "I" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for illegitimately
PropertyValue
Headwordillegitimately
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdverb
Letters14
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “illegitimately” in English

illegitimatelyranks outside the top 100,000 English headwords, in the long tail of specialist, archaic, or seldom-used vocabulary, exactly the territory where a reader stops mid-sentence to double-check spelling.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

illegitimately is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadverb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "In an illegitimate manner.".

illegitimately has no tracked misspelling variants, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

Etymologically, the entry records: From illegitimate + -ly. The correct English form is illegitimately, spelled I-L-L-E-G-I-T-I-M-A-T-E-L-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    In an illegitimate manner.

Etymology

From illegitimate + -ly.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "illegitimately"?
"illegitimately" is spelled I-L-L-E-G-I-T-I-M-A-T-E-L-Y.
What does "illegitimately" mean?
As an adverb, "illegitimately" means: In an illegitimate manner.
What is the origin of the word "illegitimately"?
From illegitimate + -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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list