politely
po·lite·ly/pəˈlaɪtli/adverb
politely is spelled P-O-L-I-T-E-L-Y: 8 letters and 3 syllables (po·lite·ly). It appears 3.0 times per million words in written English, the 15,613th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adverb, politely means “in a polite manner” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in politely?
| Letters | 8: P-O-L-I-T-E-L-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: po·lite·ly |
| In writing | 3.0 times per million words; the 15,613th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is politely?
Politely appears 3.0 times per million words in written English, the 15,613th 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 politely?
- /pəˈlaɪtli/
Politely has 3 syllables, split po·lite·ly in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-politely.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of politely
- more politely comparative
- most politely superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does politely mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adverb
- 1
in a polite manner
If pressed about a serious accusation like rape, you can politely reply that you can’t answer questions pertaining to such an allegation without legal representation and wish to remain silent.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Politely in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense in a polite manner:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | poliment |
| Spanish | educadamente, cortésmente |
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 politely come from?
From polite + -ly.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).