seemly

/ˈsiːmli/

//ˈsiːmli// adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"seemly" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“seemly” is uncommon English (frequency #90,961 among 6,566 “S” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#90,961
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Of behavior, appropriate; suited to the occasion or purpose; becoming.

Corpus desk

Index EN-seemly · seemly · English

seemly · rank #90,961 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #90,961
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH Secunderabad

Nearest frequency peer: Secunderabad (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “seemly”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “seemly” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for seemly
PropertyValue
Headwordseemly
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈsiːmli/
Letters6
Frequency rank#90,961
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “seemly” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).seemlyfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “Secunderabad” (#90,960), “seiner” (#90,962), “Sellafield” (#90,963). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “seemly” is #90,961. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

seemly is uncommon English at frequency #90,961 among 6,566 “S” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˈsiːmli/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Of behavior, appropriate; suited to the occasion or purpose; becoming.".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for seemly, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English semly, semely, semelich, from Old Norse sœmiligr (“seemly”); equivalent to seem + -ly. Cognate with Icelandic sæmilegur (“seemly, passable”), Danish sømmelig (“seemly”). The correct English form is seemly, spelled S-E-E-M-L-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Of behavior, appropriate; suited to the occasion or purpose; becoming.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how seemly appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. His behavior was seemly, as befits a gentleman.
  2. I am a woman, lacking wit / To make a seemly answer to such persons.

Etymology

From Middle English semly, semely, semelich, from Old Norse sœmiligr (“seemly”); equivalent to seem + -ly. Cognate with Icelandic sæmilegur (“seemly, passable”), Danish sømmelig (“seemly”).

Synonyms

apposite

Antonyms

unseemly

This word in other languages

ubicado(Español)schicklich(Deutsch)decente(Português)

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

How do you spell "seemly"?
"seemly" is spelled S-E-E-M-L-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈsiːmli/.
What does "seemly" mean?
As an adjective, "seemly" means: Of behavior, appropriate; suited to the occasion or purpose; becoming.
How do you pronounce "seemly"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "seemly" is /ˈsiːmli/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "seemly"?
From Middle English semly, semely, semelich, from Old Norse sœmiligr (“seemly”); equivalent to seem + -ly. Cognate with Icelandic sæmilegur (“seemly, passable”), Danish sømmelig (“seemly”). See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "seemly", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

seiner#90,962serval#90,968sclera#90,950Shapps#90,977

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list