terribly
/ˈtɛɹ.ɪ.bli/
"terribly" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“terribly” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #8,216. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #8,216
- frequency rank, English
- 3,151
- “T” headwords
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - So as to cause terror or awe.
Corpus desk
Index EN-terribly · terribly · English
terribly · rank #8,216 · 11 variants · 2 confusables
- FREQ-COMMON #8,216
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-LOW 2 pairs
- VAR-MID 11 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,151
- PHOTO-FINISH territorial
Nearest frequency peer: territorial (+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.
Rank peers near misspelling magnet “terribly”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- suburban
suburban
91,789 corpus weight
- sung
sung
91,788 corpus weight
- terribly
terribly
91,785 corpus weight
- territorial
territorial
91,784 corpus weight
- thirds
thirds
91,783 corpus weight
- thriller
thriller
91,782 corpus weight
What this shows “terribly” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.
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 | terribly |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adverb |
| IPA | /ˈtɛɹ.ɪ.bli/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #8,216 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “terribly”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 11 spelling variants around terribly (IPA /ˈtɛɹ.ɪ.bli/), anadverb. Corpus frequency is #8,216 among 3,151 “T” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for terribly, with forms such as "etrribly", "teribly", and "terirbly". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "terrify", "terrible", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: Inherited from Middle English terribli. By surface analysis, terrible + -ly. The correct English form is terribly, spelled T-E-R-R-I-B-L-Y.
Definition
- 1So as to cause terror or awe.
- 2Very; extremely.
- 3Very badly.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how terribly appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The lion roared terribly.
The mere sensuous impact of trumpet or saxophone, whatever it happened to be playing, was an echo, even though a faint echo, of that excitement and abandon. He wanted to taste, smell, hear: his senses were terribly alive.
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English terribli. By surface analysis, terrible + -ly.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- etrribly
- teribly
- terirbly
- terrbily
- terribbly
- terriblly
- terriblyy
- terribyl
- terrilby
- treribly
- tterribly
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of terribly - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "terribly", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).