Which to use
“exception” and “exemption” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,942
- “exception” frequency rank
- #12,044
- “exemption” frequency rank
- 15986
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | exception | exemption |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The act of excepting or excluding; exclusion; restriction by taking out something which would otherwise be included, as in a class, statement, rule. | An act of exempting. |
Where the eye mixes exception and exemption
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between exception and exemption
A purely visual mix-up. exception (/əkˈsɛpʃən/) and exemption (/ɪɡˈzɛm(p).ʃən/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15986, 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/. exemption is at rank #12,044, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɪɡˈzɛm(p).ʃən/.
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 15986, this pair ranks #460,600 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of exception vs exemption
Shared letters: einoptx. Private to "exception": c. Private to "exemption": m.
"exception" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVVC · "exemption" · 9 letters · shape VCVCCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "exception" and "exemption" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "exception" or "exemption" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "exception" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "exemption" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #460,600 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "exception" and "exemption" 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 #460,600 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.