Definitely? or Defiantly? ~ 5 Minute Grammar Lesson

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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.

Want more grammar posts? Here you go.

Bias or Biased?

Do to or Due to?

Broke or Broken?

Who’s or WHOSE?

How to make the word PEOPLE possessive

And if you’re looking for helpful grammar resources, here are my top picks:

Grammarly – Instantly fix over 250 types of errors with this free web-based grammar checker!

Strunk & White Elements of Style

The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation 

Eats, Shoots, and Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation 

The Grammar Girl’s Quick & Dirty Tips for Better Writing

About Michelle Marine

Michelle Marine is the author of How to Raise Chickens for Meat, a long-time green-living enthusiast, and rural Iowa mom of four. She empowers families to grow and eat seasonal, local foods; to reduce their ecological footprint; and to come together through impactful travel.

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5 Comments

  1. Hahah LOVED this lesson; I had to learn the hard way…BUT I learned…lol.. and also learned to use a different word if I’m not sure.. I send an e-mail to an attorney (work related, but he is a friend, so it was a lesson learned without getting too red..lol.. BUT in any event I turned red)… meaning to say “Definitely” and I said “Defiantly” … OOOPPSS.. Guess who will NOT make that mistake again…lol…

  2. I thought you would like to know you misspelled the word “definitely” as “definately” on your website. Silly mistakes are a pet peeve of mine and they can ruin your website credibility. In the past I’ve used a tool like spellscanner.com to keep mistake off my website.

    -Scott Matthews Sr