excuse-moi

\ɛk.skyz mwa\

/\ɛk.skyz mwa\/ phrase

The verdict

“excuse-moi” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a phrase. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
10
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Formule de politesse sollicitant le pardon d’un auditeur.

Corpus desk

Index FR-excuse-moi · excuse-moi · French

excuse-moi · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "E" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for excuse-moi
PropertyValue
Headwordexcuse-moi
LanguageFrench
Part of speechPhrase
IPA\ɛk.skyz mwa\
Letters10
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « excuse-moi » en français

excuse-moisiège au-delà des 100.000 formes les plus fréquentes du français, dans la traîne du lexique spécialisé ou peu usité.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

excuse-moi is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as aphrase, transcribed \ɛk.skyz mwa\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

excuse-moi has no tracked misspelling variants, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is excuse-moi, spelled E-X-C-U-S-E---M-O-I.

Definition

  1. 1
    Formule de politesse sollicitant le pardon d’un auditeur.
  2. 2
    Formule de politesse sollicitant le pardon d’un auditeur.
  3. 3
    Formule de politesse sollicitant le pardon d’un auditeur.
  4. 4
    Formule de politesse sollicitant le pardon d’un auditeur.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how excuse-moi appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. — Excuse-moi Elize, je ne voulais pas te froisser. J’ai agi par réflexe. Je le regrette.

Synonyms

je m’excusepardonveuillez m’excuserexcusez-moi

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.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "excuse-moi"?
"excuse-moi" is spelled E-X-C-U-S-E---M-O-I. The IPA pronunciation is \ɛk.skyz mwa\.
What does "excuse-moi" mean?
As a phrase, "excuse-moi" means: Formule de politesse sollicitant le pardon d’un auditeur.
How do you pronounce "excuse-moi"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "excuse-moi" is \ɛk.skyz mwa\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "excuse-moi" come from?
"excuse-moi" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list