Which to use
“excessive” and “expensive” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,881
- “excessive” frequency rank
- #2,071
- “expensive” frequency rank
- 7952
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | excessive | expensive |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Exceeding the usual bounds of something; too much (of amount); extravagant; immoderate. | Having a high price or cost. |
Where the eye mixes excessive and expensive
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses excessive with expensive
A purely visual mix-up. excessive (/ɪkˈsɛsɪv/) and expensive (/ɪkˈspɛnsɪv/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7952, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
excessive is recorded at frequency rank #5,881, classified as anadj, pronounced /ɪkˈsɛsɪv/. expensive is at rank #2,071, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ɪkˈspɛnsɪv/.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 7952, this pair ranks #504,811 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of excessive vs expensive
Shared letters: eisvx. Private to "excessive": c. Private to "expensive": np.
"excessive" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCV · "expensive" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "excessive" and "expensive" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "excessive" or "expensive"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "excessive" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "expensive" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #504,811 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "excessive" and "expensive" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "excessive vs excessively". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #504,811 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.