villainly

adj

"villainly" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“villainly” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
9
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Characteristic of a villain.

Key facts for villainly
PropertyValue
Headwordvillainly
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
Letters9
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “villainly” sits in English frequency

villainly falls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

villainly is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Characteristic of a villain.".

villainly has no tracked misspelling variants, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Etymologically, the entry records: From villain + -ly. The correct English form is villainly, spelled V-I-L-L-A-I-N-L-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Characteristic of a villain.

Etymology

From villain + -ly.

Synonyms

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "villainly"?
"villainly" is spelled V-I-L-L-A-I-N-L-Y.
What does "villainly" mean?
As an adjective, "villainly" means: Characteristic of a villain.
What is the origin of the word "villainly"?
From villain + -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.

Using “villainly”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is V-I-L-L-A-I-N-L-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list