How to spell absence
absence
Absence is spelled A-B-S-E-N-C-E.
Not absense.
Why is absence easy to misspell?
The word absence ends -ence with a C, and the misspelling absense writes the ending of sense. Absent makes absence the way silent makes silence: an -ent adjective takes -ence, with a C.
That spelling matches the sound exactly, which is why it looked right. English keeps letters long after the sound has moved on, so the conventional spelling is often the one that looks least like it sounds.
What does absence mean?
noun. The state of being away from a place or person.
Which other words set the same trap?
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Play today's Daily FiveSpellingIQ is a skill rating for spelling ability, not a clinical or psychometric IQ measure. American English is canonical; common variants are accepted.