Which to use
“exclude” and “explode” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,888
- “exclude” frequency rank
- #9,605
- “explode” frequency rank
- 19493
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | exclude | explode |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To bar (someone or something) from entering; to keep out. | To fly apart with sudden violent force; to blow up, to burst, to detonate, to go off. |
Where the eye mixes exclude and explode
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses exclude with explode
A purely visual mix-up. exclude (/ɪksˈkluːd/) and explode (/ɪkˈspləʊd/) 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 19493, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
exclude is recorded at frequency rank #9,888, classified as averb, pronounced /ɪksˈkluːd/. explode is at rank #9,605, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɪkˈspləʊd/.
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 19493, this pair ranks #437,770 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of exclude vs explode
Shared letters: delx. Private to "exclude": cu. Private to "explode": op.
"exclude" · 7 letters · shape VCCCVCV · "explode" · 7 letters · shape VCCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "exclude" and "explode" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "exclude" vs "explode" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "exclude" and "explode" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "exclude" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "explode" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #437,770 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "exclude" and "explode" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "explode vs exposé". 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 #437,770 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.