miserably

adv

"miserably" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“miserably” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #23,335 in English word frequency and used as an adverb.

#23,335
frequency rank, English
9
letters
14
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - In a miserable manner.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

miserably vs miserable
89% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for miserably
PropertyValue
Headwordmiserably
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdverb
Letters9
Frequency rank#23,335
Misspellings tracked14
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “miserably” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). miserably lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for miserably is 9 letters long, classified as an adverb. Corpus data places it at rank #23,335 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "In a miserable manner.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 14 likely wrong-spelling variants for miserably, with forms such as "imserably", "miesrably", and "misearbly". 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 1 confusable-pair relationship, "miserable", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English myserablie; equivalent to miserable + -ly. The correct English form is miserably, spelled M-I-S-E-R-A-B-L-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    In a miserable manner.

Etymology

From Middle English myserablie; equivalent to miserable + -ly.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: imserably,miesrably,misearbly,miserabbly,miserablly,miserablyy,miserabyl,miseralby,miserbaly,miserrably,misreably,misserably,mmiserably,msierably

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of miserably - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

imserably2miesrably2misearbly2miserabbly1miserablly1miserablyy1miserabyl2miseralby2
Edit distance from "miserably"

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 "miserably"?
"miserably" is spelled M-I-S-E-R-A-B-L-Y.
What does "miserably" mean?
As an adverb, "miserably" means: In a miserable manner.
What words are commonly confused with "miserably"?
"miserably" is commonly confused with "miserable". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
What is the origin of the word "miserably"?
From Middle English myserablie; equivalent to miserable + -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.

Using “miserably”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is M-I-S-E-R-A-B-L-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Don't mix it up with “miserable” - see the side-by-side comparison. miserably vs miserable
  • 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list