tardily

adv

"tardily" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“tardily” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adverb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
7
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - in a tardy fashion; belatedly; late

Corpus desk

Index EN-tardily · tardily · English

tardily · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "T" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for tardily
PropertyValue
Headwordtardily
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdverb
Letters7
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “tardily” in English

tardilyfalls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

tardily is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadverb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

No misspelling variants are generated for tardily in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. Our dataset records no confusable match here, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Etymologically, the entry records: From tardy + -ly. The correct English form is tardily, spelled T-A-R-D-I-L-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    in a tardy fashion; belatedly; late
  2. 2
    slowly

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Suyin had tardily, but accurately, realized that night life in this urbane company was bound to be more exciting than a cinema date with two sincere, but unelegant, factory workers.
  2. You will find near this place, if you follow not too tardily, a dead hare; eat, and be refreshed. Come on, my enemy; we have yet to wrestle for our lives, but many hard and miserable hours must you endure, until that period shall arrive.

Etymology

From tardy + -ly.

Synonyms

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "tardily"?
"tardily" is spelled T-A-R-D-I-L-Y.
What does "tardily" mean?
As an adverb, "tardily" means: in a tardy fashion; belatedly; late
What is the origin of the word "tardily"?
From tardy + -ly. 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list