Canceled vs. Cancelled: Which Is Spelled Correctly?

by John Kelly, Senior Research Editor at Dictionary.com

From March Madness and SXSW to birthday parties and spring break vacations, many gatherings, big and small, have been canceled due to the coronavirus outbreak around the world.

… or is it cancelled?

Now, spelling may seem like the least of our worries during these trying and unusual times, but many people are curious and still want to ensure their communication is clear.

So, which is correct: canceled or cancelled? Well, both are! Canceled is typically preferred in American English while cancelled is the standard in British English. Plus, it’s OK to use cancelled in the US, too.

Allow us to explain.

Why are there two different spellings: canceled vs. cancelled?

Spelling in the English language has historically been messy and inconsistent. Standardization really only took root in the past few centuries, with American and British English diverging in some significant ways along the way—thanks, in part, to two influential dictionaries.

British English spellings have primarily followed spellings in Samuel Johnson’s A Dictionary of the English Language, first published in 1755. American English spellings were shaped by Noah Webster’s An American Dictionary of the English Language, first published in 1828. Webster was an advocate for many simplified spellings, including not doubling final, unstressed L’s.

WATCH: What Does It Mean To Cancel Someone?

L vs. LL in American and British English

There are many areas of difference in spelling between American English and British English. One area is whether the letter L at the end of words gets doubled when adding inflections, such as -ed and -ing for verbs and -er or -or for nouns.

British English almost always doubles a final L. So, cancel becomes cancelled, cancelling, cancellation, and canceller. This pattern holds true in Australian, Canadian, and Irish English, as well as other forms of English used outside the US.

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In American English, the preferred style is typically not to double the final L—except in some instances where the final syllable of a word is stressed. So, cancel generally becomes canceled, canceling, and canceler.

However, cancellation is more frequent in American English than cancelation. And, in spite of any preferences and tendencies, double-L cancelled and cancelling are also very common and acceptable in American English. So, you shouldn’t get “canceled” if you spell it cancelled!

As noted, there are some words are spelled with doubled L’s in American English, especially when the stress falls on the final syllable. So, compel becomes compelled and compelling or the verb rebel, rebelled and rebelling, in American and British English alike.

What are some other examples of one L vs. two LL spellings? 

Below are some other common examples where American and British English differ in doubling L’s. We’ve only included the most familiar and frequent derived forms for the following words, but note that there may be others (e.g., labeler vs. labeller).

counsel

American English: counseled, counseling, counselor
British English: counselled, counselling, counsellor

fuel

American English: fueled, fueling
British English: fuelled, fuelling

initial

American English: initialed, initialing
British English: initialled, initialling

label

American English: labeled, labeling
British English: labelled, labelling

marvel

American English: marveled, marveling, marvelous
British English: marvelled, marvelling, marvellous

model

American English: modeled, modeling, modeler
British English: modelled, modelling, modeller

quarrel

American English: quarreled, quarreling
British English: quarrelled, quarrelling

signal

American English: signaled, signaling
British English: signalled, signalling

travel

American English: traveled, traveling, traveler
British English: travelled, travelling, traveller

Can you think of more?