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expressway

/ɪkˈspɹɛs.weɪ/noun

expressway is spelled E-X-P-R-E-S-S-W-A-Y: 10 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 1.2 times per million words in written English, the 25,751st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, expressway means “A divided highway, especially one whose intersections and direct access to adjacent properties have been eliminated” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of expressway is expressways.

How many letters and syllables are in expressway?

Letters10: E-X-P-R-E-S-S-W-A-Y
Syllables3 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing1.2 times per million words; the 25,751st most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is expressway?

Expressway appears 1.2 times per million words in written English, the 25,751st most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce expressway?

  • /ɪkˈspɹɛs.weɪ/

Expressway has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Persent101-expressway.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of expressway

  • expressways plural
  • expy
  • expwy

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does expressway mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    USA divided highway, especially one whose intersections and direct access to adjacent properties have been eliminated.

  2. 2

    CanadaSynonym of freeway.

  3. 3

    UKA road built for high speed traffic, but not up to motorway standards or designated a motorway.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you abbreviate expressway?

Wiktionary records 3 abbreviations of expressway: ewy, expwy, expy.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Expressway in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchautoroute (US: divided highway – see also motorway), voie express (high speed road, not built to motorway standards)
Portugueseauto-estrada (US: divided highway – see also motorway)
Spanishautopista (US: divided highway – see also motorway)
GermanKraftfahrstraße (high speed road, not built to motorway standards)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does expressway come from?

From express + way.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

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