express
/ɪkˈspɹɛs/
"express" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“express” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #2,110 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #2,110
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 6
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Moving or operating quickly, as a train not making local stops.
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 | express |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ɪkˈspɹɛs/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #2,110 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 6 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “express” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for express is 7 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɪkˈspɹɛs/. Corpus data places it at rank #2,110 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for express, with forms such as "epxress", "experss", and "exppress". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 6 confusable-pair relationships, "expressed", "expressly", "excess", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From French exprès, from Latin expressus, past participle of exprimere (see Etymology 2, below). The correct English form is express, spelled E-X-P-R-E-S-S.
Definition
- 1Moving or operating quickly, as a train not making local stops.
- 2Specific or precise; directly and distinctly stated; not merely implied.
- 3Truly depicted; exactly resembling.
- 4Providing a more limited but presumably faster service than a full or complete dealer of the same kind or type.
Etymology
From French exprès, from Latin expressus, past participle of exprimere (see Etymology 2, below).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: epxress,experss,exppress,expres,exprress,exprses,exrpess,exxpress,xepress
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of express - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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 “express”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is E-X-P-R-E-S-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ɪkˈspɹɛs/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “expressed” - see the side-by-side comparison. express vs expressed
- 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.