tearfully

adv

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

The verdict

“tearfully” is uncommon English (frequency #53,903 among 27,828 “T” headwords), classed as an adverb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#53,903
frequency rank, English
27,828
“T” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - In a tearful manner.

Key facts for tearfully
PropertyValue
Headwordtearfully
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdverb
Letters9
Frequency rank#53,903
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “tearfully” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). tearfully lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

tearfully is uncommon English at frequency #53,903 among 27,828 “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.

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.

Using “tearfully”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is T-E-A-R-F-U-L-L-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Other uncommon English words near this rank

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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list