Indefinately or indefinitely?
Did you mean indefinitely? Here's the right spelling and how to remember it.
Incorrect
indefinately
Correct
indefinitely
Correct spelling: indefinitely. Misspelling: indefinately.
letters the misspelling gets wrong or leaves out letters that shouldn't be there
Memory tip
It contains finite: in-de-FINITE-ly.
Why people write “indefinately”
The misspelling “indefinately” is only one letter off: it writes A where indefinitely has I, an easy slip because in an unstressed syllable both vowels can sound like the same soft "uh".
Spell-checkers catch the mistake in a document, but not in a handwritten note, a text message or a word game. Writing the word out a few times while saying the tricky part aloud is the quickest way to make indefinitely automatic.
Other misspellings of “indefinitely”
People also write “indefinetly”. Here is where each one goes wrong.
“indefinetly”
Correct spelling: indefinitely. Misspelling: indefinetly.
letters the misspelling gets wrong or leaves out letters that shouldn't be there
“indefinetly” differs from “indefinitely” in 2 places: it leaves out the I; and it swaps the order of T and E.
What does “indefinitely” mean?
indefinitely adverb
- to an indefinite extent; for an indefinite time
“this could go on indefinitely”
Definitions from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Full dictionary entry
“Indefinitely” in a sentence
- The event has been postponed indefinitely.
- This could go on indefinitely.
Is “indefinitely” a playable word?
19 points in Scrabble · 21 in Words With Friends
- Scrabble (US)
- Scrabble (UK)
- Words With Friends
“indefinately” is not accepted in any of these games. See every word you can make from INDEFINITELY.