Words Ending In LY
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Counting only the ENABLE word list, 6,374 entries are words that end in LY. That is about 3.7% of the list. The longest is ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHICALLY; the shortest are FLY, PLY and SLY. By common tile values the top scorer is ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHICALLY (47 points); board bonuses aren't counted. 949 have no repeated letter at all. Different games use different dictionaries, so check your game's rules before relying on a word.
About the suffix -LY
The ending ly most often turns an adjective into an adverb: quick becomes quickly, calm becomes calmly. It can also make adjectives from nouns, describing something “like” or “happening every”, as in friendly, costly and weekly. Many -ly words therefore come in families, with the base word sitting next to the longer form in the list.
Spelling changes are fewer than with -ing or -ed, but a few are regular: adjectives ending in a consonant plus Y change Y to I (happy, happily), and those ending in -le often become -ly by dropping the E (gentle, gently). Words such as fly, holy and ugly end in L-Y without being formed with the suffix.
Because the base word survives in most -ly words, the “leave another word” count below is high, which is a handy reminder for word puzzles: if you can see an adjective, an adverb is often two letters away.
At a glance
| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Words in this list | 6,374 |
| Share of the ENABLE list shown on this site | 3.7% |
| Longest | ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHICALLY (27 letters) |
| Shortest | FLY, PLY and SLY (3 letters) |
| Highest base score (common values) | ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHICALLY, 47 |
| No repeated letters | 949 |
Most common letter before LY
| Letter | Words |
|---|---|
| L | 1,979 |
| E | 742 |
| S | 592 |
| I | 568 |
| G | 517 |
Useful observations
- None of these words is a palindrome (the same backward and forward).
- 4,458 leave another word when the final
LYis taken off, for exampleABASEDLY,ABDOMINALLY,ABERRANTLY,ABHORRENTLYandABIDINGLY→ABASED,ABDOMINAL,ABERRANT,ABHORRENTandABIDING. - The most common number of vowels (A, E, I, O, U) is 3, found in 1,537 of these words.
- The average length is 10.6 letters.
- Before LY, the letter
Lappears most often (1,979 words).
Open a smaller list
With 6,374 words, this list is split into smaller pages by the letter before. Each page shows its complete list.
Other -LY words
These groups are too small for a page of their own, so they are listed here in full.
3 letters 2
fly ply
4 letters 10
coly duly holy inly moly only paly poly ruly waly
5 letters 34
amply apply bialy coaly cooly coyly dimly dooly doyly dryly feyly gayly haply hooly imply jowly laxly lowly manly mealy newly rawly refly reply scaly shaly shyly slyly sonly truly vealy wanly wooly wryly
6 letters 78
barfly botfly brawly calmly chicly comply crawly damply dankly darkly dayfly deafly deeply dhooly dimply dinkly drawly drumly emboly evenly feckly fickly firmly gadfly gainly glumly grayly greyly grimly growly hackly jimply keenly lankly leanly liefly limply mainly mayfly meanly medfly meekly mizzly murkly muscly nebuly openly outfly packly pimply pinkly primly purply rankly ripply ruffly rumply sawfly seemly shoaly sickly simply slimly slowly spryly supply termly thinly tinkly trimly triply unduly unholy unruly vainly warmly weakly weekly
7 letters 75
alienly aloofly anomaly anticly apetaly bairnly blackly blankly bleakly blowfly bluffly briefly briskly buxomly cheaply chiefly cleanly clerkly crackly crankly crinkly crisply crumply cubicly deerfly dicycly drizzly duopoly epiboly firefly frankly freckly frizzly gallfly glowfly greenly grizzly gruffly humanly knuckly octuply overfly overply panoply plainly plumply prickly queenly quickly reapply sandfly scrawly shadfly sharply shoofly slackly sleekly slickly snuffly sparkly sprawly starkly steeply sternly stiffly thegnly thickly treacly trickly twinkly unmanly untruly vixenly womanly wrinkly
8 letters 70
alderfly barrenly benignly biweekly blackfly brazenly brokenly catchfly commonly convexly cousinly cravenly cyclicly fellowly frozenly goldenly greenfly heavenly hecticly hiddenly hollowly horsefly housefly indignly infirmly leadenly lissomly maidenly malignly matronly medianly mellowly misapply modernly moltenly monopoly multiply mysticly narrowly overholy patronly prolixly provenly publicly randomly reflexly resupply rottenly rusticly sallowly seamanly seldomly sextuply slovenly soddenly solemnly sovranly stonefly suddenly sullenly thrawnly unchicly unevenly ungainly unseemly wantonly whitefly woodenly yellowly yeomanly
9 letters 27
amphiboly berserkly bumpkinly butterfly certainly citizenly complexly condignly damselfly dobsonfly dragonfly drunkenly forlornly inhumanly midweekly monophyly oligopoly patchouly quadruply ruffianly shallowly sympetaly triweekly uncleanly uniformly unwomanly workmanly
10 letters 16
acromegaly lukewarmly melancholy mistakenly musicianly newsweekly orthodoxly oversimply oversupply partisanly plebeianly semiweekly slatternly stubbornly syndactyly uncommonly
11 letters 14
anencephaly autocephaly brainsickly craftsmanly gentlemanly impoliticly misshapenly outspokenly polydactyly sovereignly sportsmanly statesmanly uncertainly undersupply
12 letters 8
antimonopoly curmudgeonly hepatomegaly hydrocephaly microcephaly splenomegaly superhumanly unorthodoxly
13 letters 6
brachycephaly crestfallenly deuteranomaly saturnalianly scalariformly ungentlemanly
14 letters 2
dolichocephaly subterraneanly
A sample of -LY words
An evenly spaced sample of 150 words in alphabetical order (every 42th word), to give a feel for the list.
abasedly accountably admirably agelessly alternately anchoritically antisocially aptly assembly auspiciously bacteriologically beauteously bigheartedly blandly boorishly brokenly caddishly catalytically characteristically chronologically cleverly collectively compactly conciliarly connubially continually correspondingly crashingly cubically cytotaxonomically deceptively delusively desperately diaphanously disappointingly disobediently dividedly downrightly dumbly efferently eloquently entertainingly equivalently eventually expectably extremely fatalistically festively flagrantly focally fragrantly fruitily garishly geotropically glutinously gravimetrically guiltily headily hesitatingly homozygously hungrily idealistically immeasurably imperviously inalterably inconclusively indestructibly inescapably ingenuously insignificantly intently intracutaneously invisibly irrevocably jointly kittenishly laudably lifelessly logically lumpishly managerially mawkishly menacingly microelectronically mistrustfully monotonously muddleheadedly mystifyingly negligibly noncommittally nutritiously oceanographically operantly orthogenetically overzealously paralyzingly peaceably peripatetically pharmacodynamically physicochemically platitudinously polymorphically pouringly premonitorily primely promptly pseudonymously purposefully quizzically raspingly redoubtably reminiscently resolutely rhetorically rotundly sagaciously scalariformly seasonally semiyearly shakily silkily sleeplessly snoopily sootily speechlessly squalidly stereomicroscopically stridently subliminally sunnily sustainedly synecdochically teachably terminally thirdly tiresomely transcendentally tritely ultimately unblinkingly uncustomarily unfalteringly unimaginatively unostentatiously unshapely unwifely vapidly vestigially vocably waveringly
Using these words
To find words ending in LY from your own letters, use the Word Unscrambler with LY in Ends with, or try a pattern such as ???LY in the Crossword Solver. Words come from the open ENABLE word list. Different games use different dictionaries, so always check the rules of your game.