diff --git a/wp-admin/includes/dashboard.php b/wp-admin/includes/dashboard.php
index 9c7f93c430..a622f0e7cf 100644
--- a/wp-admin/includes/dashboard.php
+++ b/wp-admin/includes/dashboard.php
@@ -584,6 +584,9 @@ function wp_dashboard_recent_drafts( $drafts = false ) {
 	}
 	echo '<h2 class="hide-if-no-js">' . __( 'Your Recent Drafts' ) . "</h2>\n<ul>";
 
+	/* translators: Maximum number of words used in a preview of a draft on the dashboard. */
+	$draft_length = intval( _x( '10', 'draft_length' ) );
+
 	$drafts = array_slice( $drafts, 0, 3 );
 	foreach ( $drafts as $draft ) {
 		$url   = get_edit_post_link( $draft->ID );
@@ -592,7 +595,7 @@ function wp_dashboard_recent_drafts( $drafts = false ) {
 		/* translators: %s: post title */
 		echo '<div class="draft-title"><a href="' . esc_url( $url ) . '" aria-label="' . esc_attr( sprintf( __( 'Edit &#8220;%s&#8221;' ), $title ) ) . '">' . esc_html( $title ) . '</a>';
 		echo '<time datetime="' . get_the_time( 'c', $draft ) . '">' . get_the_time( __( 'F j, Y' ), $draft ) . '</time></div>';
-		if ( $the_content = wp_trim_words( $draft->post_content, 10 ) ) {
+		if ( $the_content = wp_trim_words( $draft->post_content, $draft_length ) ) {
 			echo '<p>' . $the_content . '</p>';
 		}
 		echo "</li>\n";
diff --git a/wp-includes/comment-template.php b/wp-includes/comment-template.php
index 5158a6f8a7..ca0a8de714 100644
--- a/wp-includes/comment-template.php
+++ b/wp-includes/comment-template.php
@@ -577,42 +577,35 @@ function comment_date( $d = '', $comment_ID = 0 ) {
 }
 
 /**
- * Retrieve the excerpt of the current comment.
+ * Retrieves the excerpt of the given comment.
  *
- * Will cut each word and only output the first 20 words with '&hellip;' at the end.
- * If the word count is less than 20, then no truncating is done and no '&hellip;'
- * will appear.
+ * Returns a maximum of 20 words with an ellipsis appended if necessary.
  *
  * @since 1.5.0
  * @since 4.4.0 Added the ability for `$comment_ID` to also accept a WP_Comment object.
  *
  * @param int|WP_Comment $comment_ID  WP_Comment or ID of the comment for which to get the excerpt.
  *                                    Default current comment.
- * @return string The maybe truncated comment with 20 words or less.
+ * @return string The possibly truncated comment excerpt.
  */
 function get_comment_excerpt( $comment_ID = 0 ) {
 	$comment      = get_comment( $comment_ID );
 	$comment_text = strip_tags( str_replace( array( "\n", "\r" ), ' ', $comment->comment_content ) );
-	$words        = explode( ' ', $comment_text );
+
+	/* translators: Maximum number of words used in a comment excerpt. */
+	$comment_excerpt_length = intval( _x( '20', 'comment_excerpt_length' ) );
 
 	/**
-	 * Filters the amount of words used in the comment excerpt.
+	 * Filters the maximum number of words used in the comment excerpt.
 	 *
 	 * @since 4.4.0
 	 *
 	 * @param int $comment_excerpt_length The amount of words you want to display in the comment excerpt.
 	 */
-	$comment_excerpt_length = apply_filters( 'comment_excerpt_length', 20 );
+	$comment_excerpt_length = apply_filters( 'comment_excerpt_length', $comment_excerpt_length );
 
-	$use_ellipsis = count( $words ) > $comment_excerpt_length;
-	if ( $use_ellipsis ) {
-		$words = array_slice( $words, 0, $comment_excerpt_length );
-	}
+	$excerpt = wp_trim_words( $comment_text, $comment_excerpt_length, '&hellip;' );
 
-	$excerpt = trim( join( ' ', $words ) );
-	if ( $use_ellipsis ) {
-		$excerpt .= '&hellip;';
-	}
 	/**
 	 * Filters the retrieved comment excerpt.
 	 *
diff --git a/wp-includes/formatting.php b/wp-includes/formatting.php
index 934d575d1c..93a05eac6f 100644
--- a/wp-includes/formatting.php
+++ b/wp-includes/formatting.php
@@ -3680,9 +3680,7 @@ function human_time_diff( $from, $to = '' ) {
 /**
  * Generates an excerpt from the content, if needed.
  *
- * The excerpt word amount will be 55 words and if the amount is greater than
- * that, then the string ' [&hellip;]' will be appended to the excerpt. If the string
- * is less than 55 words, then the content will be returned as is.
+ * Returns a maximum of 55 words with an ellipsis appended if necessary.
  *
  * The 55 word limit can be modified by plugins/themes using the {@see 'excerpt_length'} filter
  * The ' [&hellip;]' string can be modified by plugins/themes using the {@see 'excerpt_more'} filter
@@ -3707,14 +3705,18 @@ function wp_trim_excerpt( $text = '', $post = null ) {
 		$text = apply_filters( 'the_content', $text );
 		$text = str_replace( ']]>', ']]&gt;', $text );
 
+		/* translators: Maximum number of words used in a post excerpt. */
+		$excerpt_length = intval( _x( '55', 'excerpt_length' ) );
+
 		/**
-		 * Filters the number of words in an excerpt.
+		 * Filters the maximum number of words in a post excerpt.
 		 *
 		 * @since 2.7.0
 		 *
-		 * @param int $number The number of words. Default 55.
+		 * @param int $number The maximum number of words. Default 55.
 		 */
-		$excerpt_length = apply_filters( 'excerpt_length', 55 );
+		$excerpt_length = apply_filters( 'excerpt_length', $excerpt_length );
+
 		/**
 		 * Filters the string in the "more" link displayed after a trimmed excerpt.
 		 *
@@ -3725,6 +3727,7 @@ function wp_trim_excerpt( $text = '', $post = null ) {
 		$excerpt_more = apply_filters( 'excerpt_more', ' ' . '[&hellip;]' );
 		$text         = wp_trim_words( $text, $excerpt_length, $excerpt_more );
 	}
+
 	/**
 	 * Filters the trimmed excerpt string.
 	 *
diff --git a/wp-includes/version.php b/wp-includes/version.php
index cc5d4fdeaa..503d6f04f7 100644
--- a/wp-includes/version.php
+++ b/wp-includes/version.php
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
  *
  * @global string $wp_version
  */
-$wp_version = '5.3-alpha-45504';
+$wp_version = '5.3-alpha-45505';
 
 /**
  * Holds the WordPress DB revision, increments when changes are made to the WordPress DB schema.