lately
/ˈleɪt.li/
"lately" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“lately” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #3,568 in English word frequency and used as an adverb.
- #3,568
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Recently; not long ago; of late; not long since.
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 | lately |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adverb |
| IPA | /ˈleɪt.li/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #3,568 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “lately” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for lately is 6 letters long, classified as an adverb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈleɪt.li/. Corpus data places it at rank #3,568 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 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for lately, with forms such as "altely", "laetly", and "latelly". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "later", "latex", "likely", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English lately, latly, equivalent to late + -ly. Compare Old English lætlīċe (“slowly, tardily”), Middle Low German lātlîk (“careless, slack, sloppy”). The correct English form is lately, spelled L-A-T-E-L-Y.
Definition
- 1Recently; not long ago; of late; not long since.
- 2In a late manner; after-the-fact.
- 3Formerly.
Etymology
From Middle English lately, latly, equivalent to late + -ly. Compare Old English lætlīċe (“slowly, tardily”), Middle Low German lātlîk (“careless, slack, sloppy”).
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: altely,laetly,latelly,latelyy,lateyl,latley,lattely,llately,ltaely
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of lately - 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 “lately”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is L-A-T-E-L-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈleɪt.li/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “later” - see the side-by-side comparison. lately vs later
- 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.