legally
/ˈliːɡəli/
"legally" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“legally” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #5,058 in English word frequency and used as an adverb.
- #5,058
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 5
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - As permitted by law; not contrary to law.
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 | legally |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adverb |
| IPA | /ˈliːɡəli/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #5,058 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 5 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “legally” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for legally is 7 letters long, classified as an adverb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈliːɡəli/. Corpus data places it at rank #5,058 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 2 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 legally, with forms such as "elgally", "leaglly", and "legallyy". 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 5 confusable-pair relationships, "locally", "legal", "Lally", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From legal + -ly. Piecewise doublet of leally and loyally. The correct English form is legally, spelled L-E-G-A-L-L-Y.
Definition
- 1As permitted by law; not contrary to law.
- 2From a legal perspective.
Etymology
From legal + -ly. Piecewise doublet of leally and loyally.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: elgally,leaglly,legallyy,legaly,legalyl,leggally,leglaly,lgeally,llegally
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of legally - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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 “legally”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is L-E-G-A-L-L-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈliːɡəli/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “locally” - see the side-by-side comparison. legally vs locally
- 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.