tearfully

adv

"tearfully" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“tearfully” is uncommon English (frequency #53,903 among 3,151 “T” headwords), classed as an adverb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#53,903
frequency rank, English
3,151
“T” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - In a tearful manner.

Corpus desk

Index EN-tearfully · tearfully · English

tearfully · rank #53,903 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #53,903
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,151
  • PHOTO-FINISH Taoism

Nearest frequency peer: Taoism (-1 rank slots)

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.

Long-tail ranks near “tearfully”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “tearfully” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for tearfully
PropertyValue
Headwordtearfully
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdverb
Letters9
Frequency rank#53,903
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “tearfully” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).tearfullyfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “Taoism” (#53,902), “telemarketing” (#53,905), “Tahitian” (#53,900). Among 3,151 “T” headwords, “tearfully” is #53,903. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

tearfully is uncommon English at frequency #53,903 among 3,151 “T” headwords, classed as anadverb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "In a tearful manner.".

No generated misspelling entries exist for tearfully in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From tearful + -ly. The correct English form is tearfully, spelled T-E-A-R-F-U-L-L-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    In a tearful manner.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. She was on her knees with her arms round Andrew's neck before he could prevent her. Her eyes were tearfully agleam, as, audibly reckless, she sobbed[.]
  2. Ellis on Tuesday tearfully confessed to the felony of aiding and abetting false statements that she and other lawyers told Peach State lawmakers.

Etymology

From tearful + -ly.

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 "tearfully"?
"tearfully" is spelled T-E-A-R-F-U-L-L-Y.
What does "tearfully" mean?
As an adverb, "tearfully" means: In a tearful manner.
What is the origin of the word "tearfully"?
From tearful + -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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "tearfully", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list