uncertainly
un·cer·tain·ly/ʌnˈsɜɹ.tən.li/adverb
uncertainly is spelled U-N-C-E-R-T-A-I-N-L-Y: 11 letters and 4 syllables (un·cer·tain·ly). It appears about once in every 8 million words in written English, the 86,301st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adverb, uncertainly means “In an uncertain manner” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in uncertainly?
| Letters | 11: U-N-C-E-R-T-A-I-N-L-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4: un·cer·tain·ly |
| In writing | about once in every 8 million words; the 86,301st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is uncertainly?
Uncertainly appears about once in every 8 million words in written English, the 86,301st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce uncertainly?
- UK /ʌnˈsɜːtən.li/
- UK /-lɪ/
- US /ʌnˈsɜɹ.tən.li/
Uncertainly has 4 syllables, split un·cer·tain·ly in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-uncertainly.oga, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of uncertainly
- more uncertainly comparative
- most uncertainly superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does uncertainly mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adverb
- 1
In an uncertain manner.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Uncertainly in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense in an uncertain manner:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | aléatoirement, confusément |
| Portuguese | incertamente |
| Spanish | inciertamente |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does uncertainly come from?
From Middle English uncerteynliche, uncertanlye. By surface analysis, uncertain + -ly or un- + certainly.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).