Which to use
“excellency” is a noun and “excellent” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #16,228
- “excellency” frequency rank
- #1,896
- “excellent” frequency rank
- 18124
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | excellency | excellent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Synonym of excellence; the quality of being excellent. | Having excelled, having surpassed. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set excellency and excellent apart are highlighted. They share 8 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: excellency is anoun and excellentanadjective. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18124, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
excellency is recorded at frequency rank #16,228, classified as anoun. excellent is at rank #1,896, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈɛksələnt/.
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 18124, this pair ranks #446,950 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of excellency vs excellent
Shared letters: celnx. Private to "excellency": y. Private to "excellent": t.
"excellency" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCCVCCV · "excellent" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- excellency ← ecxellency · exccellency · excelelncy · excelency · excellecny · excellenccy · excellencyy · excellenncy
- excellent ← ecxellent · exccellent · excelelnt · excelent · excellennt · excellentt · excelletn · excellnet
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "excellency" and "excellent" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "excellency" or "excellent"?
Remembering excellency vs excellent
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “excellency”; for an adjective, it's “excellent”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “excellency” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable