otherwise
/ˈʌð.ɚˌwaɪz/adverb, adjective
otherwise is spelled O-T-H-E-R-W-I-S-E. The wrong spelling people search most is otherwize: about 20 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 47 of all searches for the word. Otherwise is an adverb meaning “Differently, in another way”.
How many letters and syllables are in otherwise?
| Letters | 9: O-T-H-E-R-W-I-S-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 76 times per million words; the 1,394th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, otherwize, about 20 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell otherwise?
Otherwise is spelled O-T-H-E-R-W-I-S-E. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 46 of the searches for otherwise in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is otherwise?
Otherwise appears 76 times per million words in written English, the 1,394th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce otherwise?
- UK /ˈʌð.əˌwaɪz/
- US /ˈʌð.ɚˌwaɪz/
Otherwise has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-otherwise.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What does otherwise mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adverb
- 1
Differently, in another way.
Near-synonyms: contrarily, contrastingly
- 2
In different circumstances; or else.
I’m not well today, otherwise I would have helped.
- 3
In all other respects; apart from that; except for this.
He lost his temper once in a while. Otherwise he behaved rationally.
adjective
- 1
Other than supposed; different.
He said he didn’t do it, but the evidence was otherwise.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Otherwise in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | autrement, différemment, ou alors, ou bien, ni non plus , sinon |
| German | anders , ansonsten, sonst, andernfalls |
| Portuguese | diferente, diferentemente, de outra forma/maneira, de outro jeito/modo , senão , fora isso |
| Spanish | de otra manera, otramente , de lo contrario , por lo demás, por otra parte |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does otherwise come from?
From Middle English otherwise, othre wise, from Old English on ōþre wīsan (literally “in (on) other/different manner”); equivalent to other + -wise. Compare West Frisian yn oarwei (“otherwise”), Icelandic öðruvísi (“different”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).