apology
/əˈpɑ.lə.d͡ʒi/noun
apology is spelled A-P-O-L-O-G-Y. The wrong spelling people search most is appology: about 100 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 17 of all searches for the word. Apology is a noun meaning “An expression of remorse or regret for having said or done something that harmed another: an instance of…”. The plural of apology is apologies.
How many letters and syllables are in apology?
| Letters | 7: A-P-O-L-O-G-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 11 times per million words; the 6,565th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, appology, about 100 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Pairs people search | |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How do you spell apology?
Apology is spelled A-P-O-L-O-G-Y. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 17 of the searches for apology in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is apology?
Apology appears 11 times per million words in written English, the 6,565th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce apology?
- UK /əˈpɒl.ə.d͡ʒi/
- US /əˈpɑ.lə.d͡ʒi/
Apology has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-apology.wav, En-us-apology.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with apology
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with apology?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as apology from its last stressed vowel (/ɑlədʒi/):
- technology
- psychology
- biology
- ideology
- methodology
- sociology
- geology
- ecology
- terminology
- anthropology
- mythology
- physiology
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of apology
- apologies plural
- apologie
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does apology mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An expression of remorse or regret for having said or done something that harmed another: an instance of apologizing (saying that one is sorry).
What he said really hurt my feelings, but his apology sounded so sincere that I couldn't help but forgive him.
- 2
A formal justification, defence.
the Apology of Socrates
- 3
Anything provided as a substitute; a makeshift.
a poor apology for a hotel room
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Apology in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | excuse , apologie |
| German | Entschuldigung, Entschülligunge , Apologie |
| Portuguese | desculpa , apologia |
| Spanish | disculpa , apología |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.