roughly
/ˈɹʌf.li/
"roughly" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“roughly” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #3,905 in English word frequency and used as an adverb.
- #3,905
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - In a rough manner; without kindness, softness, or gentleness.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | roughly |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adverb |
| IPA | /ˈɹʌf.li/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #3,905 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “roughly” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for roughly is 7 letters long, classified as an adverb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈɹʌf.li/. Corpus data places it at rank #3,905 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for roughly, with forms such as "orughly", "roguhly", and "rougghly". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "roundly", "rough", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From rough + -ly. The correct English form is roughly, spelled R-O-U-G-H-L-Y.
Definition
- 1In a rough manner; without kindness, softness, or gentleness.
- 2Unevenly or irregularly.
- 3Without precision or exactness; imprecisely but close to in quantity or amount; approximately.
Etymology
From rough + -ly.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: orughly,roguhly,rougghly,roughhly,roughlly,roughlyy,roughyl,rouglhy,rouhgly,rroughly,ruoghly
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of roughly - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “roughly”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is R-O-U-G-H-L-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɹʌf.li/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “roundly” - see the side-by-side comparison. roughly vs roundly
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.