expository

UK: /ɪkˈspɒzɪtərɪ/

US: /ɪkˈspɑzɪˌtɔri/

US: (ik spoz′i tôr′ē, -tōr′ē)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

ex•pos•i•to•ry /ɪkˈspɑzɪˌtɔri/   adj. 

1. Rhetoric serving to explain something:
   expository writing.

See -pos-.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

ex•pos•i•to•ry  (ik spoz′i tôr′ē, -tōr′ē), adj. 

1. Rhetoric of the nature of exposition;
   serving to expound, set forth, or explain:
   an expository essay; expository writing.

Also, ex•pos′i•tive. 

• Medieval Latin expositōrius. See expositor, -tory¹
• 1590–1600

ex•pos′i•to′ri•ly, ex•pos′i•tive•ly, adv. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

expository / ɪkˈspɒzɪtərɪ -trɪ/, expositive adjective

1. of, involving, or assisting in exposition; explanatory