expletive
/ɪkˈspliːtɪv/
"expletive" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“expletive” is uncommon English (frequency #50,500 among 2,246 “E” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #50,500
- frequency rank, English
- 2,246
- “E” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Serving to fill up, merely for effect, otherwise redundant.
Corpus desk
Index EN-expletive · expletive · English
expletive · rank #50,500 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #50,500
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,246
- PHOTO-FINISH evert
Nearest frequency peer: evert (-3 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Long-tail ranks near “expletive”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- EULA
EULA
49,505 corpus weight
- evert
evert
49,504 corpus weight
- expletive
expletive
49,501 corpus weight
- fain
fain
49,498 corpus weight
- fairtrade
fairtrade
49,497 corpus weight
- fashionista
fashionista
49,496 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “expletive” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | expletive |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ɪkˈspliːtɪv/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #50,500 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “expletive” in English
Rare enough to double-check
expletive is uncommon English at frequency #50,500 among 2,246 “E” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ɪkˈspliːtɪv/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
No generated misspelling entries exist for expletive in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Late Latin explētīvus (“serving to fill out”), from Latin explētus, the perfect passive participle of expleō (“fill out”), itself from ex (“out, completely”) + *pleō (“fill”). The correct English form is expletive, spelled E-X-P-L-E-T-I-V-E.
Definition
- 1Serving to fill up, merely for effect, otherwise redundant.
- 2Marked by expletives (phrase-fillers).
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how expletive appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
No one entered more fully than Shakespeare into the character of this species of poetry, which admits of no expletive imagery, no merely ornamental line.
deprecating being taken for ſerious, or to be underſtood that he meaneth any thing by them; but only that he uſeth them as expletive phraſes ... to plump his ſpeech, and fill up ſentences.
Etymology
From Late Latin explētīvus (“serving to fill out”), from Latin explētus, the perfect passive participle of expleō (“fill out”), itself from ex (“out, completely”) + *pleō (“fill”).
This word in other languages
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
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "expletive", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).