Absance or absence?
Did you mean absence? Here's the right spelling and how to remember it.
Incorrect
absance
Correct
absence
Correct spelling: absence. Misspelling: absance.
letters the misspelling gets wrong or leaves out letters that shouldn't be there
Memory tip
Absence starts with an S sound spelled S and ends with one spelled C: ab-S-en-C-e.
Why people write “absance”
The endings -ence and -ance sound identical in speech; this word takes -ence.
Spell-checkers catch the mistake in a document, but not in a handwritten note, a text message or a word game. Writing the word out a few times while saying the tricky part aloud is the quickest way to make absence automatic.
What does “absence” mean?
absence noun
- the state of being absent
“he was surprised by the absence of any explanation”
- failure to be present
- the time interval during which something or somebody is away
“he visited during my absence”
- the occurrence of an abrupt, transient loss or impairment of consciousness (which is not subsequently remembered), sometimes with light twitching, fluttering eyelids, etc.; common in petit mal epilepsy
Synonyms:
Definitions from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Full dictionary entry
“Absence” in a sentence
- Her absence from the meeting was noticed by everyone.
- He was surprised by the absence of any explanation.
- He visited during my absence.
Is “absence” a playable word?
11 points in Scrabble · 14 in Words With Friends
- Scrabble (US)
- Scrabble (UK)
- Words With Friends
“absance” is not accepted in any of these games. See every word you can make from ABSENCE.