Successfully or succesfully? Which form is correct?

Successfully or succesfully? Which form is correct? Both words obviously come from the noun success, but do you drop one “s” to form an adverb or retain it? Or perhaps both forms are correct and you can use them interchangeably? Read this article to make sure you confront this spelling dilemma successfully… or succesfully?

Successfully or succesfully? Which one is correct?

It turns out that there is only one correct form of this word and it is successfully. It is the only acceptable spelling and has no alternative forms in all variants of English. Carry on reading for more details.

Successfully or succesfully? The correct form

Successfully is spelled with double consonant s because in the noun that this adverb is formed from success, there are two ss. Double s is retained with adjective successful and it is also retained in the adverbial form successfully. It is as simple as that!

Successfully – the meaning

Successfully is an adverb that means “in a way that achieves the results wanted or what was intended”. The examples of how to use successfully in sentences are presented in the following section.

Successfully or succesfully? Now it is all clear! Examples from the literature and press

It was possible, and sometimes she thought it probable, that his affection might be reanimated, and the influence of his friends successfully combated by the more natural influence of Jane’s attractions.

Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

I sat silent, recalling what a drudge she had been until Mr. Wopsle’s great-aunt successfully overcame that bad habit of living, so highly desirable to be got rid of by some people.

Charles Dickens, Great Expectations

It is now confined, mostly successfully, to a protected area around Wisconsin.

J.K. Rowling, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

And although Britain is the first country to successfully deploy floating wind at scale, there are limits to its ability to harvest the rewards of its efforts.

BBC, Oct 19, 2022