expansif

\ɛks.pɑ̃.sif\

/\ɛks.pɑ̃.sif\/ adj

The verdict

“expansif” is uncommon French (frequency #76,552 among 3,255 “E” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#76,552
frequency rank, French
3,255
“E” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Qui a la force de dilater, de s'expanser.

Corpus desk

Index FR-expansif · expansif · French

expansif · rank #76,552 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #76,552
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,255
  • PHOTO-FINISH exacerbées

Nearest frequency peer: exacerbées (-1 rank slots)

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.

Rangs de longue queue près de « expansif »

Bande clairsemée: les barres inversent le rang pour que le rare se lise plus court

corpus weight

What this shows Vue de longue queue: où « expansif » se situe face à des rangs français aussi rares.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for expansif
PropertyValue
Headwordexpansif
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdjective
IPA\ɛks.pɑ̃.sif\
Letters8
Frequency rank#76,552
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « expansif » en français

Cette échelle va du noyau du français courant (gauche) jusqu'à la traîne des formes rares (droite).expansiftombe dans cette queue de rareté:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Les tics avancent en logarithme; chacun est de l'ordre de dix fois plus rare. Voisins rares de la même bande: « exacerbées » (#76,551), « expedia » (#76,553), « experiment » (#76,554). Parmi 3,255 lemmes en « E », « expansif » est au #76,552. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

expansif is uncommon French at frequency #76,552 among 3,255 “E” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed \ɛks.pɑ̃.sif\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

expansif doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable French rules. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct French form is expansif, spelled E-X-P-A-N-S-I-F.

Definition

  1. 1
    Qui a la force de dilater, de s'expanser.
  2. 2
    Qui ne peut être contenu, qui se manifeste largement au-dehors, en parlant des sentiments.
  3. 3
    Qui ne peut contenir ses sentiments.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how expansif appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. La force expansive d’un gaz.
  2. Une bonté expansive.

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 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "expansif"?
"expansif" is spelled E-X-P-A-N-S-I-F. The IPA pronunciation is \ɛks.pɑ̃.sif\.
What does "expansif" mean?
As an adjective, "expansif" means: Qui a la force de dilater, de s'expanser.
How do you pronounce "expansif"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "expansif" is \ɛks.pɑ̃.sif\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "expansif" come from?
"expansif" is a French word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "expansif", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list