possibly
Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.
Letters
8 characters
Language
English
word origin
Source
Wiktionary
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Detailed reference entry for the English word "possibly", 8-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "possibly" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "possibly" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.
possibly is anEnglishadv. It means: Perhaps; indicates that the proposition may be true (is not certainly false) regardless of any facts or circumstances known to, stated by or implied by the speaker. Pronounced /ˈpɒs.ə.bli/. It ranks #1,770 in English word frequency. Often confused with possible.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | possibly |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adv |
| IPA | /ˈpɒs.ə.bli/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #1,770 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency rank visualization
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for possibly is 8 letters long, classified as anadv, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈpɒs.ə.bli/. Corpus data places it at rank #1,770 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 11 documented wrong-spelling variants for possibly, with forms such as "opssibly", "posibly", and "posisbly". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "possible", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From possible + -ly. Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is possibly, spelled P-O-S-S-I-B-L-Y, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Definition
- 1Perhaps; indicates that the proposition may be true (is not certainly false) regardless of any facts or circumstances known to, stated by or implied by the speaker.
- 2In the realm of possibility; indicates that the action may successfully be performed (is not impossible) regardless of any facts or circumstances known to, stated by or implied by the speaker that might limit the performance.
Etymology
From possible + -ly.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: opssibly,posibly,posisbly,possbily,possibbly,possiblly,possiblyy,possibyl,possilby,ppossibly,psosibly
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
Relative frequency of common misspelling types for possibly
Misspelling Variants of "possibly"
Frequency rank: #1,770 in English
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Nearby English words
Other entries that begin with the letter P in our English index: