warily

adv

"warily" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“warily” is uncommon English (frequency #60,558 among 1,759 “W” headwords), classed as an adverb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#60,558
frequency rank, English
1,759
“W” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - In a careful and guarded manner, especially to avoid potential danger or harm.

Corpus desk

Index EN-warily · warily · English

warily · rank #60,558 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #60,558
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,759
  • PHOTO-FINISH warding

Nearest frequency peer: warding (-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.

Long-tail ranks near “warily”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “warily” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for warily
PropertyValue
Headwordwarily
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdverb
Letters6
Frequency rank#60,558
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “warily” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).warilyfalls in this rarity band:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “warding” (#60,557), “warr” (#60,559), “Wausau” (#60,561). Among 1,759 “W” headwords, “warily” is #60,558. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

warily is uncommon English at frequency #60,558 among 1,759 “W” headwords, classed as anadverb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for warily, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Etymologically, the entry records: From wary + -ly. The correct English form is warily, spelled W-A-R-I-L-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    In a careful and guarded manner, especially to avoid potential danger or harm.
  2. 2
    Without trust; in a manner showing a lack of trust.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. She walked through the dark alley, warily glancing around to make sure she wasn't being followed.
  2. That her little Tarzan could destroy a great bull gorilla she knew to be improbable, and so, as she neared the spot from which the sounds of the struggle had come, she moved more warily and at last slowly and with extreme caution she traversed the lowest branches, peering eagerly into the moon- splashed blackness for a sign of the combatants.

Etymology

From wary + -ly.

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 "warily"?
"warily" is spelled W-A-R-I-L-Y.
What does "warily" mean?
As an adverb, "warily" means: In a careful and guarded manner, especially to avoid potential danger or harm.
What is the origin of the word "warily"?
From wary + -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 "warily", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list