Which to use
“exception” and “exceptions” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,942
- “exception” frequency rank
- #7,443
- “exceptions” frequency rank
- 11385
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | exception | exceptions |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The act of excepting or excluding; exclusion; restriction by taking out something which would otherwise be included, as in a class, statement, rule. | plural of exception |
Where the eye mixes exception and exceptions
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between exception and exceptions
A purely visual mix-up. exception (/əkˈsɛpʃən/) and exceptions (/əkˈsɛpʃənz/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “exception” sits inside “exceptions”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11385, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
exception is recorded at frequency rank #3,942, classified as anoun, pronounced /əkˈsɛpʃən/. exceptions is at rank #7,443, tagged as anoun, pronounced /əkˈsɛpʃənz/.
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 11385, this pair ranks #487,344 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of exception vs exceptions
Shared letters: ceinoptx. Private to "exception": -. Private to "exceptions": s.
"exception" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVVC · "exceptions" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- exception ← ecxeption · excception · excepiton · excepption · excepsion · exceptino · exceptionn · exceptoin
- exceptions ← ecxeptions · excceptions · excepitons · excepptions · exceptinos · exceptionns · exceptionss · exceptiosn
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "exception" and "exceptions" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "exception" or "exceptions" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "exception" and "exceptions" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "exception" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "exceptions" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #487,344 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "exception" and "exceptions" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "exception vs excretion". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #487,344 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.