overtly
adverb
overtly is spelled O-V-E-R-T-L-Y: 7 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 1.4 times per million words in written English, the 23,536th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adverb, overtly means “In an overt manner; publicly; openly” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in overtly?
| Letters | 7: O-V-E-R-T-L-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.4 times per million words; the 23,536th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
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).
How common is overtly?
Overtly appears 1.4 times per million words in written English, the 23,536th 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 overtly?
- US
Overtly 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Wodencafe-overtly.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of overtly
- more overtly comparative
- most overtly superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does overtly mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adverb
- 1
In an overt manner; publicly; openly.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Overtly in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense openly:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | ouvertement |
| German | offen, unverhohlen, offenkundig |
| Portuguese | abertamente, declaradamente |
| Spanish | abiertamente |
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 overtly come from?
From overt + -ly.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).