Which to use
“expenditure” and “expenditures” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,544
- “expenditure” frequency rank
- #14,530
- “expenditures” frequency rank
- 25074
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | expenditure | expenditures |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Act of expending or paying out. | plural of expenditure |
Where the eye mixes expenditure and expenditures
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses expenditure with expenditures
A purely visual mix-up. expenditure (/ɛkˈspɛndɪt͡ʃə/) and expenditures (/ɛkˈspɛndɪt͡ʃɚz/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “expenditure” sits inside “expenditures”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25074, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
expenditure is recorded at frequency rank #10,544, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɛkˈspɛndɪt͡ʃə/. expenditures is at rank #14,530, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɛkˈspɛndɪt͡ʃɚz/.
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 25074, this pair ranks #397,137 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of expenditure vs expenditures
Shared letters: deinprtux. Private to "expenditure": -. Private to "expenditures": s.
"expenditure" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVCV · "expenditures" · 12 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- expenditure ← epxenditure · exepnditure · expedniture · expendditure · expenditrue · expenditture · expendituer · expenditurre
- expenditures ← epxenditures · exepnditures · expednitures · expendditures · expenditrues · expendittures · expendituers · expendituress
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "expenditure" for "expenditures" ever safe?
Frequency check: "expenditure" vs "expenditures" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "expenditure" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "expenditures" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #397,137 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- 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 #397,137 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.