Which to use
“exclaim” and “explain” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #36,135
- “exclaim” frequency rank
- #1,365
- “explain” frequency rank
- 37500
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | exclaim | explain |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To cry out suddenly, from some strong emotion. | To make plain, manifest, or intelligible; to clear of obscurity; to illustrate the meaning of. |
Where the eye mixes exclaim and explain
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. exclaim and explain follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCCVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses exclaim with explain
A purely visual mix-up. exclaim (/ɛkˈskleɪm/) and explain (/ɪkˈspleɪn/) 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 37500, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
exclaim is recorded at frequency rank #36,135, classified as averb, pronounced /ɛkˈskleɪm/. explain is at rank #1,365, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɪkˈspleɪn/.
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 37500, this pair ranks #294,033 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of exclaim vs explain
Shared letters: aeilx. Private to "exclaim": cm. Private to "explain": np.
"exclaim" · 7 letters · shape VCCCVVC · "explain" · 7 letters · shape VCCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "exclaim" for "explain" ever safe?
Which is more common, "exclaim" or "explain"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "exclaim" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "explain" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #294,033 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "exclaim" and "explain" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "exclaim vs exclaimed". 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 #294,033 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.