specially
spe·cial·ly/ˈspɛʃəli/adverb
specially is spelled S-P-E-C-I-A-L-L-Y, 3 syllables: spe·cial·ly. The wrong spelling people search most is specialy: about 50 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026). Specially is an adverb meaning “For a special purpose, person, or occasion”.
How many letters and syllables are in specially?
| Letters | 9: S-P-E-C-I-A-L-L-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: spe·cial·ly |
| In writing | 10 times per million words; the 7,009th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, specialy, about 50 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Pairs people search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; 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 specially?
Specially is spelled S-P-E-C-I-A-L-L-Y. One wrong spelling is 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 specially?
Specially appears 10 times per million words in written English, the 7,009th 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 specially?
- /ˈspɛʃəli/
Specially has 3 syllables, split spe·cial·ly in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-specially.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with specially
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of specially
- more 'specially comparative
- most 'specially superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does specially mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adverb
- 1
For a special purpose, person, or occasion.
We had this cake made specially for your birthday.
- 2
proscribedextremely
She's specially good at running.
- 3
proscribedin particular
I love all animals, specially cute furry ones.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Specially in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense for a special purpose:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | particulièrement, spécialement |
| German | speziell |
| Portuguese | especialmente |
| Spanish | especialmente, específicamente |
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 specially come from?
From Middle English specialli, specially, equivalent to special + -ly.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).