instantly
/ˈɪnstəntli/
"instantly" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“instantly” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #4,864 in English word frequency and used as an adverb.
- #4,864
- frequency rank, English
- 9
- letters
- 15
- tracked misspellings
- 3
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - At once; without delay.
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 | instantly |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adverb |
| IPA | /ˈɪnstəntli/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #4,864 |
| Misspellings tracked | 15 |
| Confusable pairs | 3 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “instantly” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for instantly is 9 letters long, classified as an adverb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈɪnstəntli/. Corpus data places it at rank #4,864 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 15 likely wrong-spelling variants for instantly, with forms such as "innstantly", "insatntly", and "insstantly". 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 3 confusable-pair relationships, "intently", "instant", "insanely", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From instant + -ly. The correct English form is instantly, spelled I-N-S-T-A-N-T-L-Y.
Definition
- 1At once; without delay.
- 2Urgently; with insistence.
- 3At the same time.
Etymology
From instant + -ly.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: innstantly,insatntly,insstantly,instanlty,instanntly,instantlly,instantlyy,instanttly,instantyl,instatnly,instnatly,insttantly,intsantly,isntantly,nistantly
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of instantly - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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 "instantly"?
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Using “instantly”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is I-N-S-T-A-N-T-L-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɪnstəntli/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “intently” - see the side-by-side comparison. instantly vs intently
- 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.