explode
/ɪkˈspləʊd/
"explode" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“explode” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #9,605 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #9,605
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 6
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To fly apart with sudden violent force; to blow up, to burst, to detonate, to go off.
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 | explode |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ɪkˈspləʊd/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #9,605 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 6 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “explode” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for explode is 7 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɪkˈspləʊd/. Corpus data places it at rank #9,605 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 14 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 explode, with forms such as "epxlode", "exlpode", and "expldoe". 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 6 confusable-pair relationships, "exposé", "explore", "exploit", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: First recorded around 1538, from the Latin verb explōdere (“drive out or off by clapping”). The meaning was originally theatrical, "to drive an actor off the stage by making noise," hence meaning to "to drive out" or "to reject". From ex- (“out”) + plaudere… The correct English form is explode, spelled E-X-P-L-O-D-E.
Definition
- 1To fly apart with sudden violent force; to blow up, to burst, to detonate, to go off.
- 2To destroy with an explosion.
- 3To make a violent or emotional outburst; to suddenly give expression to powerful and often negative or unpleasant emotion, especially anger.
- 4To increase suddenly.
- 5To increase arbitrarily or boundlessly.
- 6To destroy violently or abruptly.
- 7To create an exploded view of.
- 8To disprove or debunk.
- 9To emerge suddenly.
- 10To ejaculate.
- 11To break (a delimited string of text) into several smaller strings by removing the separators.
- 12To decompress (data) that was previously imploded.
- 13To open all doors and hatches on an automobile.
- 14Of a die, to produce the highest face result and consequently reroll.
Etymology
First recorded around 1538, from the Latin verb explōdere (“drive out or off by clapping”). The meaning was originally theatrical, "to drive an actor off the stage by making noise," hence meaning to "to drive out" or "to reject". From ex- (“out”) + plaudere (“to clap; to applaud”). In English it used to mean to "drive out with violence and sudden noise" (from around 1660), and later meaning to "go off with a loud noise" (from around 1790). The sense of "bursting with destructive force" is first recorded around 1882.
Synonyms
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: epxlode,exlpode,expldoe,expllode,explodde,exploed,expolde,expplode,exxplode,xeplode
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of explode - 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
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Using “explode”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is E-X-P-L-O-D-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ɪkˈspləʊd/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “exposé” - see the side-by-side comparison. explode vs exposé
- 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.