lowly
/ˈləʊli/
"lowly" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“lowly” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #20,420 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #20,420
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Not high; not elevated in place; low.
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 | lowly |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈləʊli/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #20,420 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “lowly” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for lowly is 5 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈləʊli/. Corpus data places it at rank #20,420 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for lowly, with forms such as "llowly", "lolwy", and "lowlly". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "loy", "lowry", "low", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From low + -ly; compare Middle English lowly. The correct English form is lowly, spelled L-O-W-L-Y.
Definition
- 1Not high; not elevated in place; low.
- 2Low in rank or social importance.
- 3Not lofty or sublime; humble.
- 4Having a low esteem of one's own worth; humble; meek; free from pride.
Etymology
From low + -ly; compare Middle English lowly.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: llowly,lolwy,lowlly,lowlyy,lowwly,lowyl,lwoly,olwly
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of lowly - 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
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Using “lowly”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is L-O-W-L-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈləʊli/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “loy” - see the side-by-side comparison. lowly vs loy
- 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.