Word.ws English Dictionary

exposé

/ˌɛkspoʊˈzeɪ/

exposé noun: the act of exposing somebody or something; a shameful showing up.

Noun

exposé (plural exposés)

  1. The act of exposing somebody or something; a shameful showing up.
    • "What shall be said to my sister? We cannot steal from her without saying something, as she would conclude we were murdered, apply to the ambassador, and bring on the very exposé we desire to avoid."1842, [anonymous collaborator of Letitia Elizabeth Landon], chapter XXVIII, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 65
    • Just as with other recent reports by various bodies on HS2 and the ticket office closures, the National Audit Office's effort on the rail reform process is a devastating exposé of the failings and floundering of a dying administration that has failed to understand the value of having an efficient...2024 March 20, Christian Wolmar, “NAO report highlights lack of clarity and purpose”, in RAIL, number 1005, page 34
  2. A publication of investigative journalism that reveals hidden and often scandalous truths.
  3. A formal recital or exposition.

Forms of exposé

pluralexposés

Origin of exposé

Unadapted borrowing from French exposé.

Words formed from exposé

Questions about exposé

What does exposé mean?
Exposé means the act of exposing somebody or something; a shameful showing up.
What part of speech is exposé?
Exposé is a noun.
How do you pronounce exposé?
Exposé is pronounced /ˌɛkspoʊˈzeɪ/.
What is the plural of exposé?
The plural of exposé is exposés.

Words near exposé in the dictionary

  1. exposure time
  2. exposure times
  3. exposure treatment
  4. exposure treatments
  5. exposures
  6. exposé
  7. exposés
  8. expotentiate
  9. expound
  10. expoundable
  11. expounded

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: exposé (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-exposé.wav.

Cite this entry: “exposé.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/expos%C3%A9. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.