exploservsexpulserTell them apart

Which to use

“exploser” and “expulser” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#5,245
“exploser” frequency rank
#14,037
“expulser” frequency rank
19282
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature exploser expulser
Definition Faire explosion. Chasser quelqu’un d’un lieu, d’un pays où il était établi, d’un bien dont il était en possession.

Where the eye mixes exploser and expulser

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

8 ch
exploser
8 ch
expulser

Why the eye confuses exploser with expulser

A purely visual mix-up. exploser (\ɛk.splo.ze\) and expulser (\ɛks.pyl.se\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19282, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

exploser is recorded at frequency rank #5,245, classified as averb, pronounced \ɛk.splo.ze\. expulser is at rank #14,037, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɛks.pyl.se\.

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 19282, this pair ranks #374,022 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of exploser vs expulser

Shared letters: elprsx. Private to "exploser": o. Private to "expulser": u.

"exploser" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVCVC  ·  "expulser" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • exploserepxloser · exlposer · explloser · exploesr · exploserr · explosre · explosser · explsoer
  • expulserepxulser · expluser · exppulser · expulesr · expullser · expulserr · expulsre · expulsser

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "exploser" and "expulser" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ɛk.splo.ze\ versus \ɛks.pyl.se\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "exploser" or "expulser"?
"exploser" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,245 in our French list, against #14,037 for "expulser". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "exploser" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "expulser" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #374,022 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "exploser" and "expulser" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "exploser vs exposez". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #374,022 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list