VocabauraVOCABAURA

expense

noun · verb

Simple meaning

A spending or consuming, often a disbursement of funds.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

ihkspehns

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ɪksˈpɛns

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. A spending or consuming, often a disbursement of funds.

  2. The elimination or consumption of something, sometimes with the notion of loss or damage to the thing eliminated.

verb

  1. transitive

    To charge a cost against an expense account; to bill something to the company for which one works.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
A2 · Elementary (estimated)
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: A spending or consuming, often a disbursement of funds.

Used this way, expense is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use expense

  • “Buying the car was a big expense, but will be worth it in the long run.”noun

Share your sentence

Write your own example sentence using “expense”. We review each one before it appears.

Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Charge

expense account

Reduce

depreciation expense

Other combinations

interest expenseoperating expensebusiness expenseexpense ratiogreat expensepublic expense

Tap the highlighted word to open its own entry.

Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • expensiveadjectiveDerived adjective

    High in price or charging high prices.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • expense accountnounCompound term

    An account to which salespersons or executives can charge travel and entertainment expenses.

  • expense recordnounCompound term

    A written record of money spent.

  • business expensenounCompound term

    Ordinary and necessary expenses incurred in a taxpayer's business or trade.

  • incidental expensenounCompound term

    An expense not budgeted or not specified.

  • interest expensenounCompound term

    Interest paid on loans.

  • lobbying expensenounCompound term

    Expenses incurred in promoting or evaluating legislation.

Use This Word

See how this word sounds in a real sentence.

Ask Vocabaura

Understand the word your way.

What Does It Mean Here?

Words can change meaning depending on context.

Use it yourself

Keep learning “expense” by choosing the kind of practice you need next.

Want to type words like this one without looking at the keyboard? Each typing round draws from words you've learned, saved or need to review. Follow the free Learn to Type lessons and type your own vocabulary with confidence.

Know the meaning? Practice vocabulary in real situations.

Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.