probably
/ˈpɹɑ.bə.bli/adverb
probably is spelled P-R-O-B-A-B-L-Y. The wrong spelling people search most is probaly: about 280 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026). Probably is an adverb meaning “In all likelihood”.
How many letters and syllables are in probably?
| Letters | 8: P-R-O-B-A-B-L-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 234 times per million words; the 425th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 7; the most searched, probaly, about 280 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 probably?
Probably is spelled P-R-O-B-A-B-L-Y. 7 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure.
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 probably?
Probably appears 234 times per million words in written English, the 425th 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 probably?
- UK /ˈpɹɒb.ə.bli/
- UK /ˈpɹɒb.li/
- US /ˈpɹɑ.bə.bli/
Probably 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-probably.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of probably
- more probably comparative
- most probably superlative
- probally
- probly
- prolly
- proly
- pby
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does probably mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adverb
- 1
In all likelihood.
She probably has arrived by now.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate probably?
Wiktionary records 4 abbreviations of probably: pby, prob, prob., proly.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Probably in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense in all likelihood:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | probablement, sans doute, sûrement |
| German | wahrscheinlich, glaublich |
| Portuguese | provavelmente |
| Spanish | probablemente |
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 probably come from?
From Middle English probably, probabily, equivalent to probable + -ly.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).