espresso
/ɛˈspɹɛsəʊ/
"espresso" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“espresso” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #17,361 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #17,361
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A concentrated coffee beverage brewed by forcing hot water under high pressure through finely ground coffee.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | espresso |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ɛˈspɹɛsəʊ/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #17,361 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “espresso” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for espresso is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɛˈspɹɛsəʊ/. Corpus data places it at rank #17,361 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for espresso, with forms such as "epsresso", "espersso", and "esppresso". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "express", "empress", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Italian espresso, from caffè espresso (“pressed-out coffee”), form of esprimere (“to press out”), from Latin exprimere, from ex- (“out”) + primere (“to press”). Some sources derive the term from “expressly (‘individually, directly’) made for t… The correct English form is espresso, spelled E-S-P-R-E-S-S-O.
Definition
- 1A concentrated coffee beverage brewed by forcing hot water under high pressure through finely ground coffee.
- 2A drink that includes espresso as an ingredient.
Etymology
Borrowed from Italian espresso, from caffè espresso (“pressed-out coffee”), form of esprimere (“to press out”), from Latin exprimere, from ex- (“out”) + primere (“to press”). Some sources derive the term from “expressly (‘individually, directly’) made for the customer”, or as “fast” (Italian espresso also meaning “fast”, as in English express (“fast”)) but these are not widely credited. The original term for modern espresso (coffee extracted under pressure) was cream coffee, from Italian caffè crema (variant: crema caffè), due to the crema, and was seen on early Gaggia machines, but this term is no longer used.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: epsresso,espersso,esppresso,espreso,espresos,esprresso,esprseso,esrpesso,esspresso,sepresso
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of espresso - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "espresso"?
What does "espresso" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "espresso"?
How do you pronounce "espresso"?
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Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “espresso”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is E-S-P-R-E-S-S-O - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ɛˈspɹɛsəʊ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “express” - see the side-by-side comparison. espresso vs express
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.