exaltvsexileWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: exalt is a verb, exile is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“exalt” is a verb and “exile” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#47,049
“exalt” frequency rank
#9,042
“exile” frequency rank
56091
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature exalt exile
Definition To honor; to hold in high esteem; to praise or worship. The state of being banished from one's home or country.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set exalt and exile apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
exalt
5 ch
exile

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: exalt is /ɪɡˈzɒlt/ while exile is /ˈɛɡˌzaɪl/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56091, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

exalt is recorded at frequency rank #47,049, classified as averb, pronounced /ɪɡˈzɒlt/. exile is at rank #9,042, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈɛɡˌzaɪl/.

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 56091, this pair ranks #128,793 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of exalt vs exile

Shared letters: elx. Private to "exalt": at. Private to "exile": i.

"exalt" · 5 letters · shape VCVCC  ·  "exile" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • exalteaxlt · exallt · exaltt · exatl · exlat · exxalt · xealt
  • exileeixle · exiel · exille · exlie · exxile · xeile

Frequency comparison

exalt#47,049
exile#9,042

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "exalt" and "exile" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "exalt" is a verb and "exile" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "exalt" or "exile"?
"exile" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,042 in our English list, against #47,049 for "exalt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering exalt vs exile

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “exalt”; for a noun, it's “exile”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “exalt” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list