word count in calibre editor

I am looking for a way to do a word count in an epub file in calibre's editor such that while editing I can reduce word count via some sort of temporary exclusion. I noticed that style="visibility:hidden" leaves vertical space but word count in that style is still counted. In style="display:hidden" vertical space disappears but but word count in that style is still counted. Is there any other convenient way to temporarily exclude text to reduce word count. I am editing to reduce total word count size of file to specification of maximum word count.
Best regards, Pop