expunge
/ɪkˈspʌnd͡ʒ/verb
expunge is spelled E-X-P-U-N-G-E: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 69,055th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, expunge means “To erase or strike out” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in expunge?
| Letters | 7: E-X-P-U-N-G-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 5 million words; the 69,055th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none 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 expunge?
Expunge appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 69,055th 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 expunge?
- /ɪkˈspʌnd͡ʒ/
- /ɛkˈspʌnd͡ʒ/
Expunge has 2 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)-Vealhurl-expunge.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of expunge
- expunges present, singular, he/she/it
- expunging participle, present
- expunged participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does expunge mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To erase or strike out.
- 2
To eliminate completely; to annihilate.
- 3
To delete permanently (e-mail etc.) that was previously marked for deletion but still stored.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Expunge in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | effacer , éliminer |
| German | ausstreichen, durchstreichen , auslöschen |
| Spanish | borrar, expurgar, limpiar, eliminar, expunger |
| Portuguese | expungir |
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 expunge come from?
Learned borrowing from Latin expungere.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).