Which to use
“excused” and “executed” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,111
- “excused” frequency rank
- #4,525
- “executed” frequency rank
- 24636
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | excused | executed |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of excuse | simple past and past participle of execute |
Where the eye mixes excused and executed
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: excused vs executed
A purely visual mix-up. excused (/ɪkˈskjuːzd/) and executed (/ˈɛksɪˌkjuːtɪd/) 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 24636, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
excused is recorded at frequency rank #20,111, classified as averb, pronounced /ɪkˈskjuːzd/. executed is at rank #4,525, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈɛksɪˌkjuːtɪd/.
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 24636, this pair ranks #400,527 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of excused vs executed
Shared letters: cdeux. Private to "excused": s. Private to "executed": t.
"excused" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC · "executed" · 8 letters · shape VCVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "excused" for "executed" ever safe?
Frequency check: "excused" vs "executed" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "excused" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "executed" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #400,527 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "excused" and "executed" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "encased vs excused". 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 #400,527 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.