thankfully

adv

"thankfully" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“thankfully” has 15 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #9,676. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#9,676
frequency rank, English
3,151
“T” headwords
15
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - In a thankful manner; giving thanks.

Corpus desk

Index EN-thankfully · thankfully · English

thankfully · rank #9,676 · 15 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-COMMON #9,676
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 15 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,151
  • PHOTO-FINISH sufficiently

Nearest frequency peer: sufficiently (-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 “thankfully”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “thankfully” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

thankfully vs thankful
80% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for thankfully
PropertyValue
Headwordthankfully
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdverb
Letters10
Frequency rank#9,676
Misspellings tracked15
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “thankfully”

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

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “sufficiently” (#9,675), “sting” (#9,674), “tick” (#9,678). Among 3,151 “T” headwords, “thankfully” is #9,676. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 15 spelling variants around thankfully, anadverb. Corpus frequency is #9,676 among 3,151 “T” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 15 likely wrong-spelling variants for thankfully, with forms such as "htankfully", "tahnkfully", and "thaknfully". 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 1 confusable-pair relationship, "thankful", 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 thankfully, thankefully, þonkfulliche, from Old English þancfullīċe, equivalent to thankful + -ly. The correct English form is thankfully, spelled T-H-A-N-K-F-U-L-L-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    In a thankful manner; giving thanks.
  2. 2
    fortunately, gratefully.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Gratiano: […]I owe you much, and, like a wilful youth That which I owe is lost; but if you please To shoot another arrow that self way Which you did shoot the first, I do not doubt, As I will watch the aim, or to find both, Or bring your latter hazard back again, And thankfully rest debtor for the first.
  2. I immediately offered my assistance to the unhappy person, who thankfully accepted it, and, putting himself under my conduct, begged me to convey him to some tavern, where he might send for a surgeon […]

Etymology

From Middle English thankfully, thankefully, þonkfulliche, from Old English þancfullīċe, equivalent to thankful + -ly.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • htankfully
  • tahnkfully
  • thaknfully
  • thanfkully
  • thankffully
  • thankfluly
  • thankfullyy
  • thankfuly
  • thankfulyl
  • thankkfully
  • thankuflly
  • thannkfully
  • thhankfully
  • thnakfully
  • tthankfully

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of thankfully - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

htankfully2tahnkfully2thaknfully2thanfkully2thankffully1thankfluly2thankfullyy1thankfuly1
Edit distance from "thankfully"

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 "thankfully"?
"thankfully" is spelled T-H-A-N-K-F-U-L-L-Y.
What does "thankfully" mean?
As an adverb, "thankfully" means: In a thankful manner; giving thanks.
What words are commonly confused with "thankfully"?
"thankfully" is commonly confused with "thankful". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
What is the origin of the word "thankfully"?
From Middle English thankfully, thankefully, þonkfulliche, from Old English þancfullīċe, equivalent to thankful + -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 "thankfully", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (15 here; floor ≥5).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list