excuse me
/ɛksˈkjuːz mi/
"excuse-me" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“excuse me” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a phrase. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Said as a request to repeat information.
Corpus desk
Index EN-excuse-me · excuse me · English
excuse me · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "E" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | excuse me |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Phrase |
| IPA | /ɛksˈkjuːz mi/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “excuse me” in English
Rare enough to double-check
excuse me is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as aphrase, transcribed /ɛksˈkjuːz mi/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 6 senses are on record.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for excuse me, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct English form is excuse me, spelled E-X-C-U-S-E- -M-E.
Definition
- 1Said as a request to repeat information.
- 2Said, as though as a request to repeat information, in order to indicate disbelief or indignation.
- 3Said as a request for an individual's attention.
- 4Said as a request to pass somebody.
- 5Sorry, as an apology.
- 6Said as an expression of unexpected or early farewell.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how excuse me appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
It was so hot I took off my clothes and sat by the window to cool off. Excuse me?
Excuse me? Anna? Is that you? — Oh, yes. I am here!
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.