Definitely? or Defiantly? ~ 5 Minute Grammar Lesson

on Nov 17, 2012, Updated Nov 11, 2022

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Definitely or defiantly. What do they mean? Which should you use? Do you know the difference between these two tricky words?

Definitely? or Definately? - 5 minutes weekly grammar lesson

Here’s you weekly 5 minutes grammar lesson.

Definitely. D E F I N I T E L Y?! Yes, definitely.

Lots of people accidentally type out defiantly when they actually mean definitely. So what’s the difference?

DEFINITELY –

Definitely is an adverb that means “without doubt.” Example: I am DEFINITELY going to eat a healthy meal tonight.

DEFIANTLY –

Defiantly is another adverb that means “in a manner that shows open resistance or bold disobedience.” Example: My kid DEFIANTLY said she will not clean her room.

Which should you use? DEFINITELY OR DEFIANTLY?

Technically, the both kind of work interchangeable in some situations, but the meaning is very different. A lot of people end up typing DEFIANTLY when they actually mean DEFINITELY.

Not Defiatly.

Not Definitly.

Not Defiantly. {Though that word is spelled correctly, but it does NOT mean the same thing.}

Not Definently.

There’s even an entire website devoted just to the proper spelling of this word! Check it out here. It made me giggle.

If you have a hard time remembering HOW TO SPELL DEFINITELY, the trick is to think about the word FINITE which is in the middle of DEFINITELY.