# shortly

> English word · Adverb · IPA /ˈʃɔɹtli/ · frequency rank #3,195

## Definitions
1. In a short or brief time or manner; quickly.
2. In or after a short time; soon.
3. In few words.
4. In an irritable ("short") manner.

## Etymology
From Middle English schortly, schortliche, from Old English sċortlīċe (“shortly; before long; soon”), equivalent to short + -ly.

## Easily confused with
- **shorts** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shortly-vs-shorts)
- **softly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shortly-vs-softly)
- **shorty** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shortly-vs-shorty)
- **sorely** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shortly-vs-sorely)
- **sporty** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shortly-vs-sporty)
- **smartly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shortly-vs-smartly)
- **short** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/short-vs-shortly)
- **shorter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shorter-vs-shortly)
- **sharply** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sharply-vs-shortly)
- **shorten** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shorten-vs-shortly)
- **shorted** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shorted-vs-shortly)

## Common misspellings (12)
`hsortly`, `shhortly`, `shorlty`, `shorrtly`, `shortlly`, `shortlyy`, `shorttly`, `shortyl`, `shotrly`, `shrotly`, `sohrtly`, `sshortly`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/shortly