amuse
/əˈmjuːz/
"amuse" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“amuse” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #24,652 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #24,652
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To entertain or occupy (someone or something) in a pleasant manner; to stir (someone) with pleasing emotions.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | amuse |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /əˈmjuːz/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #24,652 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “amuse” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for amuse is 5 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /əˈmjuːz/. Corpus data places it at rank #24,652 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for amuse, with forms such as "ammuse", "amsue", and "amues". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "arse", "anus", "Aust", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd Proto-Italic *ad Proto-Italic *ad- Latin ad- Old French a- Old French muser Old French amuserbor. Middle English *amusen English amuse From Late Middle English *amusen (“to mutter, be astonished, gaze meditatively on… The correct English form is amuse, spelled A-M-U-S-E.
Definition
- 1To entertain or occupy (someone or something) in a pleasant manner; to stir (someone) with pleasing emotions.
- 2To cause laughter or amusement; to be funny.
- 3To keep in expectation; to beguile; to delude.
- 4To occupy or engage the attention of; to lose in deep thought; to absorb; also, to distract; to bewilder.
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd Proto-Italic *ad Proto-Italic *ad- Latin ad- Old French a- Old French muser Old French amuserbor. Middle English *amusen English amuse From Late Middle English *amusen (“to mutter, be astonished, gaze meditatively on”), from Old French amuser (“to stupefy, waste time, be lost in thought”), from a- + muser (“to stare stupidly at, gape, wander, waste time, loiter, think carefully about, attend to”), of uncertain and obscure origin. Cognate with Occitan musa (“idle waiting”), Italian musare (“to gape idly about”). Possibly from Old French *mus (“snout”) from Vulgar Latin *mūsa (“snout”) — compare Medieval Latin mūsum (“muzzle, snout”) –, from Proto-Germanic *mū- (“muzzle, snout”), from Proto-Indo-European *mū- (“lips, muzzle”). Compare North Frisian müs, mös (“mouth”), German Maul (“muzzle, snout”). Alternative etymology connects muser and musa with Frankish *muoza (“careful attention, leisure, idleness”), from Proto-Germanic *mōtǭ (“leave, permission”), from Proto-Indo-European *med- (“to acquire, possess, control”). This would make it a cognate of Dutch musen (“to leisure”), Old High German *muoza (“careful attention, leisure, idleness”) and muozōn (“to be idle, have leisure or opportunity”), German Muße (“leisure”). More at empty.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ammuse,amsue,amues,amusse,aumse,mause
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of amuse - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "amuse"?
What does "amuse" mean?
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Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “amuse”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is A-M-U-S-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /əˈmjuːz/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “arse” - see the side-by-side comparison. amuse vs arse
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.