English Word Reference Free

utterly

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

7 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

open dictionary

Access

Free

no sign-up needed

Detailed reference entry for the English word "utterly", 7-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "utterly" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "utterly" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

utterly is anEnglishadv. It means: Completely; entirely; to the fullest extent. Pronounced /ˈʌt.ə(ɹ).li/. It ranks #6,974 in English word frequency. Often confused with utter and uttered.

Key facts for utterly
PropertyValue
Headwordutterly
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdv
IPA/ˈʌt.ə(ɹ).li/
Letters7
Frequency rank#6,974
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs2
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of utterly in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for utterly is 7 letters long, classified as anadv, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈʌt.ə(ɹ).li/. Corpus data places it at rank #6,974 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Completely; entirely; to the fullest extent.".

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 9 documented wrong-spelling variants for utterly, with forms such as "tuterly", "uterly", and "utetrly". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "utter", "uttered", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From utter + -ly. Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is utterly, spelled U-T-T-E-R-L-Y, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    Completely; entirely; to the fullest extent.

Etymology

From utter + -ly.

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: tuterly,uterly,utetrly,uttelry,utterlly,utterlyy,utterrly,utteryl,uttrely

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for utterly

Misspelling Variants of "utterly"

tuterly7uterly6utetrly7uttelry7utterlly8utterlyy8utterrly8utteryl7
Misspelling Variants of "utterly"

Frequency rank: #6,974 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "utterly"?
"utterly" is spelled U-T-T-E-R-L-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈʌt.ə(ɹ).li/.
What does "utterly" mean?
As an adv, "utterly" means: Completely; entirely; to the fullest extent.
What words are commonly confused with "utterly"?
"utterly" is commonly confused with "utter", "uttered". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "utterly"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "utterly" is /ˈʌt.ə(ɹ).li/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "utterly"?
From utter + -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.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter U in our English index:

Explore PlainSpell

Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.