simply
/ˈsɪmpli/adverb
simply is spelled S-I-M-P-L-Y. The wrong spelling people search most is simpley: about 50 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 161 of all searches for the word. Simply is an adverb meaning “In a simple way or state; considered in or by itself; without addition; alone”.
How many letters and syllables are in simply?
| Letters | 6: S-I-M-P-L-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 120 times per million words; the 873rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, simpley, about 50 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 simply?
Simply is spelled S-I-M-P-L-Y. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 162 of the searches for simply in either form.
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 simply?
Simply appears 120 times per million words in written English, the 873rd 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 simply?
- US /ˈsɪmpli/
- /ˈsəmpli/
Simply has 2 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-simply.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Wodencafe-simply.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of simply
- more simply comparative
- most simply superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does simply mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adverb
- 1
In a simple way or state; considered in or by itself; without addition; alone.
- 2
Plainly; without art or subtlety
- 3
Foolishly; stupidly.
- 4
Merely; solely.
I was simply asking a question.
- 5
absolutely, positively.
That was a simply wonderful dessert.
- 6
Frankly.
Simply, he just fired you.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Simply in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense in a simple manner:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | simplement |
| German | einfach |
| Portuguese | simplesmente |
| Spanish | simplemente, sencillamente |
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 simply come from?
From Middle English symply, symplely; equivalent to simple + -ly, with *-lely simplified to -ly by haplology.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).