excuse
/ɪksˈkjuz/verb, noun
excuse is spelled E-X-C-U-S-E: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 36 times per million words in written English, the 2,669th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, excuse means “To forgive; to pardon; to overlook” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in excuse?
| Letters | 6: E-X-C-U-S-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 36 times per million words; the 2,669th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in 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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is excuse?
Excuse appears 36 times per million words in written English, the 2,669th 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 excuse?
- UK /ɪkˈskjuːz/
- UK /ɛksˈkjuːz/
- US /ɪksˈkjuz/
As a noun (“An explanation designed to avoid or alleviate guilt or…”): /ɪkˈskjuːs/, /ɛksˈkjuːs/, /ɪksˈkjus/.
Excuse has 2 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: En-us-excuse-verb.ogg, En-us-excuse-noun.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Wodencafe-excuse.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with excuse?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as excuse from its last stressed vowel (/uz/):
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 excuse
- excuses present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- excusing participle, present
- excused participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does excuse mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To forgive; to pardon; to overlook.
I excused him his transgressions.
- 2
To allow to leave, or release from any obligation.
May I be excused from the table?
- 3
To provide an excuse for; to justify.
You know he shouldn't have done it, so don't try to excuse his behavior!
- 4
To relieve of an imputation by apology or defense; to make apology for as not seriously evil; to ask pardon or indulgence for.
noun
- 1
An explanation designed to avoid or alleviate guilt or negative judgment; a plea offered in extenuation of a fault.
Tell me why you were late – and I don't want to hear any excuses!
- 2
A defense to a criminal or civil charge wherein the accused party admits to doing acts for which legal consequences would normally be appropriate, but asserts that special circumstances relieve that party of culpability for having done those acts.
- 3
An example of something that is substandard or of inferior quality.
That thing is a poor excuse for a gingerbread man. Hasn't anyone taught you how to bake?
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Excuse in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | excuser, pardonner , justifier , prétexte, excuse |
| German | entschuldigen, verzeihen , Ausrede, Ausflucht , sich entschuldigen |
| Portuguese | desculpar, perdoar , desculpar-se , desculpa , escusar, dispensar |
| Spanish | excusar, perdonar , disculpar , excusa |
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.