amuse
/əˈmjuːz/
"amuse" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“amuse” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #24,652. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #24,652
- frequency rank, English
- 3,931
- “A” headwords
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To entertain or occupy (someone or something) in a pleasant manner; to stir (someone) with pleasing emotions.
Corpus desk
Index EN-amuse · amuse · English
amuse · rank #24,652 · 6 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-MID #24,652
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 6 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,931
- PHOTO-FINISH amplification
Nearest frequency peer: amplification (-1 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Rank peers near misspelling magnet “amuse”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- alta
alta
75,352 corpus weight
- altercation
altercation
75,351 corpus weight
- amplificati…
amplification
75,350 corpus weight
- amuse
amuse
75,349 corpus weight
- Appleton
Appleton
75,347 corpus weight
- APS
APS
75,346 corpus weight
What this shows “amuse” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.
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) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “amuse”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 6 spelling variants around amuse (IPA /əˈmjuːz/), averb. Corpus frequency is #24,652 among 3,931 “A” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
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.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how amuse appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
I watch these movies because they amuse me.
It always amuses me to hear the funny stories why people haven't got a ticket, but I never let them get in without paying.
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
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "amuse", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).