Words That End In -LY
Quick answer: There are 6,375 valid words that end in -LY in the ENABLE word list this tool uses. Type your letters into the Word Unscrambler to find the ones your rack can actually play.
The -LY ending forms most English adverbs, plus some adjectives. This list covers every valid word that ends in -LY.
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Base Scrabble tile scores, before board premiums — the highest-value words that end in -LY.
3 letters
fly, ply, sly
4 letters
ably, agly, ally, coly, duly, eely, holy, idly, illy, inly, lily, moly, oily, only, paly, pily, poly, rely, ruly, ugly, waly, wily
5 letters
amply, apply, aptly, badly, bally, belly, bialy, bigly, billy, bully, burly, coaly, colly, cooly, coyly, cully, curly, daily, dally, delly, dilly, dimly, doily, dolly, dooly, doyly, drily, dryly, dully, early, fatly, felly, ferly, feyly, filly, fitly, folly, fully, gaily, gally, gayly, gilly, girly, godly, golly, gully, haply, hilly, holly, hooly, hotly, hurly, icily, imply, jelly, jolly, jowly, kelly, laxly, lolly, lowly, madly, manly, marly, mealy, molly, muhly, nelly, newly, nobly, noily, oddly, pally, patly, rally, rawly, redly, refly, reply, roily, sadly, sally, scaly, seely, shaly, shily, shyly, silly, slily, slyly, sonly, sully, surly, tally, telly, truly, vealy, wally, wanly, welly, wetly, willy, wooly, wryly
6 letters
acidly, aerily, agedly, airily, anally, archly, aridly, artily, auntly, avidly, baldly, barely, barfly, basely, bassly, bluely, bodily, boldly, botfly, brawly, brolly, bubbly, burbly, busily, cagily, calmly, chally, chicly, chilly, cicely, coldly, comely, comply, coolly, cosily, costly, cozily, crawly, cuddly, curtly, cutely, daftly, damply, dankly, darkly, dayfly, deadly, deafly, dearly, deeply, deftly, dewily, dhooly, diddly, dimply, dinkly, direly, doubly, dourly, dozily, drably, drawly, drolly, drumly, dually, dumbly, easily, edgily, eerily, emboly, evenly, evilly, fairly, family, featly, feckly, feebly, fickly, fiddly, finely, firmly, flatly, fondly, foully, foxily, freely, frilly, gadfly, gainly, gamely, gamily, gangly, gently, giggly, gladly, glegly, glibly, gluily, glumly, gnarly, goggly, goodly, googly, gorily, grayly, greyly, grimly, grisly, growly, hackly, hardly, hazily, highly, hokily, holily, homely, homily, hostly, hourly, hubbly, hugely, humbly, ickily, jangly, jiggly, jimply, jingly, jokily, jungly, justly, keenly, kindly, kingly, knolly, knurly, lacily, lamely, lanely, lankly, lastly, lately, lazily, leally, leanly, lewdly, liefly, likely, limply, lively, logily, lonely, longly, lordly, loudly, lovely, lushly, mainly, marbly, mayfly, mazily, meanly, measly, medfly, meekly, meetly, merely, mildly, mizzly, mostly, muchly, muddly, mumbly, murkly, muscly, mutely, namely, nearly, neatly, nebuly, nettly, nicely, nimbly, nosily, nubbly, nudely, numbly, oilily, oozily, openly, orally, outfly, ovally, overly, packly, palely, partly, pearly, pebbly, pertly, piddly, pimply, pinkly, pokily, poorly, portly, poshly, primly, puddly, punily, purely, purply, pussly, racily, rankly, raptly, rarely, rashly, rattly, really, richly, rifely, ripely, ripply, ropily, rosily, rubbly, rudely, ruffly, rumbly, rumply, safely, sagely, sanely, sawfly, seemly, sexily, shelly, shoaly, sickly, simply, singly, slimly, slowly, smelly, smugly, snarly, snugly, softly, solely, sorely
7 letters
acridly, acutely, addedly, adeptly, adultly, affably, agilely, alertly, alienly, aloofly, amiably, angerly, angrily, anomaly, anticly, apetaly, aphylly, apishly, areally, audibly, aurally, awfully, axially, baggily, bairnly, balkily, balmily, banally, basally, bawdily, beadily, beamily, beastly, beefily, bifidly, blackly, blandly, blankly, bleakly, blindly, blowfly, bluffly, bluntly, bonnily, boozily, bossily, brambly, brashly, bravely, briefly, briskly, bristly, brittly, broadly, brutely, buirdly, bulkily, bumpily, burlily, bushily, buxomly, campily, cannily, capably, cattily, cavally, cecally, charily, cheaply, cheerly, chiefly, childly, chimbly, civilly, cleanly, clearly, clerkly, closely, cockily, cornily, courtly, cowedly, crackly, crankly, crassly, crazily, crinkly, crisply, crossly, crudely, cruelly, crumbly, crumply, crusily, cubicly, curably, curlily, cushily, daffily, dandily, datedly, daylily, dazedly, deathly, deerfly, densely, dicycly, dingily, dirtily, dizzily, doomily, dottily, doucely, dowdily, dribbly, drizzly, ducally, dumpily, duopoly, durably, duskily, dustily, eagerly, earthly, elderly, emptily, epiboly, equably, equally, erectly, erosely, exactly, fadedly, faintly, falsely, fancily, fatally, fattily, fetidly, fierily, fifthly, filmily, finally, firefly, firstly, fishily, fixedly, flakily, fleetly, fleshly, fluidly, foamily, focally, foggily, frailly, frankly, freckly, freshly, friarly, frizzly, fugally, fuggily, funnily, furrily, fusibly, fussily, fustily, fuzzily, gallfly, gassily, gaudily, gauntly, gauzily, gawkily, gelidly, gemmily, ghastly, ghostly, giddily, gingely, glowfly, godlily, goofily, goutily, grandly, gravely, greatly, greenly, grimily, gristly, grizzly, grossly, gruffly, grumbly, gushily, gustily, gutsily, gyrally, hammily, handily, happily, hardily, harshly, hastily, hazelly, headily, heavily, heftily, hoarily, hornily, horsily, huffily, humanly, humidly, huskily, ideally, ignobly, inanely, inaptly, ineptly, inertly, innerly, irately, itchily, jadedly, jazzily, jerkily, jointly, jollily, joltily, juicily, jumpily, jurally, kinkily, knobbly, knuckly, lairdly, laithly, lankily, largely, leakily, leerily, legally, legibly, levelly, lichtly, licitly, lightly, lithely, lividly
8 letters
abasedly, abjectly, aborally, abruptly, absently, absurdly, achingly, actively, actually, adorably, adroitly, aerially, affinely, aguishly, aimfully, alderfly, alpinely, amazedly, amenably, amicably, amorally, amusedly, animally, annually, anodally, apically, ardently, arguably, arrantly, artfully, assembly, astrally, astutely, atonally, augustly, aversely, avowably, avowedly, badgerly, bankerly, barrenly, bearably, beggarly, benignly, biasedly, biddably, bihourly, binately, bitchily, bitingly, bitterly, biweekly, biyearly, blackfly, blamably, blearily, blithely, bloodily, blousily, blowsily, blowzily, blurrily, bodingly, boringly, botchily, bouncily, bovinely, bowingly, boyishly, brainily, brassily, brawnily, brazenly, breezily, bridally, brightly, brokenly, broodily, brutally, buccally, bunchily, caecally, candidly, carnally, casually, catchfly, caudally, causally, chancily, chastely, chattily, cheekily, cheerily, cheesily, chillily, chirpily, choicely, choppily, chorally, chubbily, chummily, chunkily, churchly, clammily, classily, cleverly, clinally, clonally, cloudily, clumsily, coarsely, coevally, cogently, coitally, comelily, commonly, convexly, cooingly, cousinly, covertly, cowardly, crabbily, craftily, craggily, crankily, cravenly, creakily, creamily, credibly, creepily, crispily, croakily, croupily, crousely, crustily, cryingly, culpably, cursedly, curvedly, cussedly, cyclicly, cymosely, daintily, damnably, dapperly, daringly, datively, decently, demurely, deniably, dentally, deucedly, devoutly, directly, dismally, distally, divinely, docilely, doggedly, dorsally, dotardly, dotingly, draftily, dreamily, drearily, dressily, droopily, drowsily, dudishly, dulcetly, earthily, easterly, effetely, eighthly, elatedly, elfishly, eligibly, elvishly, entirely, enviably, epically, equinely, errantly, erringly, expertly, facetely, facially, facilely, fallibly, famously, fatherly, faultily, faunally, feasibly, felinely, fellowly, fervidly, festally, feudally, fiercely, filially, filthily, finitely, fiscally, fitfully, flabbily, flashily, fleecily, flexibly, flimsily, flintily, floppily, florally, floridly, flossily, fluently, fluffily, folksily, forcedly, forcibly, forkedly, formally, formerly, fourthly, freakily, frenzily, friendly, frigidly, friskily, frizzily, frostily, frothily, frowzily, frozenly, frugally, fruitily, frumpily, fumingly, futilely, gapingly, garishly, gauchely, genially, gibingly, giftedly, gingelly, gingerly, glassily, globally, gloomily
The most common of the 6,375 matches in the ENABLE open word list, grouped by length. Use the Word Unscrambler with your exact letters to see which of them you can actually play.
Game Strategy
-LY is a handy Scrabble ending because it appends to countless adjectives (QUICK → QUICKLY), often creating long, high-scoring plays.
Going Deeper
The vast majority of -LY words are adverbs made from adjectives (QUICK → QUICKLY, REAL → REALLY, SAD → SADLY), with a few standalone adjectives (LONELY, LIVELY, FRIENDLY). Because the transformation is so productive, -LY attaches to a large base of words, giving you long plays when you hold an L and a Y. Feed your letters to the unscrambler to see every valid -LY word.
How to Use
- Open the Word Unscrambler
- Type your available letters (use ? or * for blank tiles)
- Apply the starts-with, ends-with, or contains filter to match this pattern
- Results appear grouped by length, sorted by Scrabble score
Frequently Asked Questions
How many words end in -LY?
The ENABLE word list contains 6,375 words ending in -LY, grouped by length on this page. The count is large because -LY is the standard way English turns an adjective into an adverb. Short -LY words are rare, so most of the list sits in the six-letter band and above. Use the unscrambler to find the ones your letters can build.
Are all -LY words adverbs?
Not all -LY words are adverbs: most are adverbs formed from adjectives (QUICK becomes QUICKLY, SAD becomes SADLY), but a substantial group are adjectives in their own right, including LONELY, LIVELY, FRIENDLY, LOVELY, COSTLY and SILLY. A handful are nouns, such as ANOMALY and MONOPOLY, where the -LY is not a suffix at all. All of them are valid in Scrabble and Words With Friends regardless of part of speech. This page lists every type together.
Is -LY useful in Scrabble?
The -LY ending is useful because it appends to a very large base of adjectives, which often creates long plays that reach premium squares. The Y is worth 4 points in Scrabble, so it adds real value when it lands on a double or triple letter. The catch is that L and Y rarely appear together in a rack by chance. When they do, checking for an -LY extension of a stem you hold is usually worth a turn.
When does Y change to I before -LY?
A final Y changes to I before -LY when it follows a consonant, so HAPPY becomes HAPPILY and EASY becomes EASILY. It stays put after a vowel, as in COY becoming COYLY. Adjectives already ending in -LE drop the E instead, giving SIMPLE and SIMPLY, GENTLE and GENTLY. Those three rules account for almost every irregular-looking word on this page.