excitementvsexcrementWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“excitement” and “excrement” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#5,218
“excitement” frequency rank
#35,712
“excrement” frequency rank
40930
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature excitement excrement
Definition The state of being excited (emotionally aroused). Human and non-human animal solid waste excreted from the bowels; feces.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set excitement and excrement apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

10 ch
excitement
9 ch
excrement

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. excitement (/ɪkˈsaɪtmənt/) and excrement (/ˈɛkskɹəmənt/) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40930, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

excitement is recorded at frequency rank #5,218, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɪkˈsaɪtmənt/. excrement is at rank #35,712, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈɛkskɹəmənt/.

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 40930, this pair ranks #263,095 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of excitement vs excrement

Shared letters: cemntx. Private to "excitement": i. Private to "excrement": r.

"excitement" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCVCVCC  ·  "excrement" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • excitementecxitement · exccitement · excietment · exciteemnt · excitemennt · excitementt · excitemetn · excitemment
  • excrementecxrement · exccrement · excerment · excreemnt · excremennt · excrementt · excremetn · excremment

Frequency comparison

excitement#5,218
excrement#35,712

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "excitement" and "excrement" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ɪkˈsaɪtmənt/ versus /ˈɛkskɹəmənt/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "excitement" or "excrement"?
"excitement" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,218 in our English list, against #35,712 for "excrement". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering excitement vs excrement

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “excitement” 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