thusly
/ˈðʌs.li/
"thusly" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“thusly” is an uncommon English word, ranked #62,572 in English word frequency and used as an adverb.
- #62,572
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - thus (in this way).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | thusly |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adverb |
| IPA | /ˈðʌs.li/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #62,572 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “thusly” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for thusly is 6 letters long, classified as an adverb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈðʌs.li/. Corpus data places it at rank #62,572 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
thusly has no tracked misspelling variants, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From thus + -ly, dating from the 19th century, seemingly coined by educated writers to make fun of uneducated persons trying to sound genteel, with a false inference that thus is not an adverb. The correct English form is thusly, spelled T-H-U-S-L-Y.
Definition
- 1thus (in this way).
- 2thus (therefore)
Etymology
From thus + -ly, dating from the 19th century, seemingly coined by educated writers to make fun of uneducated persons trying to sound genteel, with a false inference that thus is not an adverb.
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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Using “thusly”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is T-H-U-S-L-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈðʌs.li/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.