specially
/ˈspɛʃəli/
"specially" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“specially” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #7,064 in English word frequency and used as an adverb.
- #7,064
- frequency rank, English
- 9
- letters
- 12
- tracked misspellings
- 5
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - For a special purpose, person, or occasion.
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 | specially |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adverb |
| IPA | /ˈspɛʃəli/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #7,064 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 5 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “specially” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for specially is 9 letters long, classified as an adverb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈspɛʃəli/. Corpus data places it at rank #7,064 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 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for specially, with forms such as "psecially", "sepcially", and "spceially". 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 5 confusable-pair relationships, "specialty", "special", "socially", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English specialli, specially, equivalent to special + -ly. The correct English form is specially, spelled S-P-E-C-I-A-L-L-Y.
Definition
- 1For a special purpose, person, or occasion.
- 2extremely
- 3in particular
Etymology
From Middle English specialli, specially, equivalent to special + -ly.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: psecially,sepcially,spceially,specailly,speccially,speciallyy,specialy,specialyl,specilaly,speically,sppecially,sspecially
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of specially - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 "specially"?
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Using “specially”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-P-E-C-I-A-L-L-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈspɛʃəli/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “specialty” - see the side-by-side comparison. specially vs specialty
- 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.