Which to use
“eclipsed” is an adjective and “ellipse” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #29,253
- “eclipsed” frequency rank
- #42,625
- “ellipse” frequency rank
- 71878
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | eclipsed | ellipse |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | With its disc sable (or, modernly, of another specified tincture). | A closed curve, the locus of a point such that the sum of the distances from that point to two other fixed points (called the foci of the ellipse) is constant; equivalently, the conic section that is the intersection of a cone with a plane that does not intersect the base of the cone. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set eclipsed and ellipse apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: eclipsed is anadjective and ellipseanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 71878, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
eclipsed is recorded at frequency rank #29,253, classified as anadj. ellipse is at rank #42,625, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɪˈlɪps/.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 71878, this pair ranks #45,030 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of eclipsed vs ellipse
Shared letters: eilps. Private to "eclipsed": cd. Private to "ellipse": -.
"eclipsed" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC · "ellipse" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "eclipsed" and "ellipse" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "eclipsed" or "ellipse"?
Remembering eclipsed vs ellipse
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “eclipsed”; for a noun, it's “ellipse”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “eclipsed” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable