Which to use
“expire” is a verb and “exposé” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #14,121
- “expire” frequency rank
- #42,126
- “exposé” frequency rank
- 56247
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | expire | exposé |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To die. | The act of exposing somebody or something; a shameful showing up. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set expire and exposé apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: expire is /ɪkˈspaɪə(ɹ)/ while exposé is /ˌɛkspoʊˈzeɪ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56247, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
expire is recorded at frequency rank #14,121, classified as averb, pronounced /ɪkˈspaɪə(ɹ)/. exposé is at rank #42,126, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˌɛkspoʊˈzeɪ/.
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 56247, this pair ranks #127,649 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of expire vs exposé
Shared letters: epx. Private to "expire": ir. Private to "exposé": osé.
"expire" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV · "exposé" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- expire ← epxire · exipre · expier · expirre · exppire · exprie · exxpire · xepire
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "expire" and "exposé" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "expire" or "exposé"?
Remembering expire vs exposé
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “expire”; for a noun, it's “exposé”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “expire” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable