n. 1
The action of expressing thoughts, ideas, feelings, etc.
n. 2
A particular way of phrasing an idea.
n. 3
A colloquialism or idiom.
The expression "break a leg!" should not be taken literally.

Related words

Word family: express expressible expressionist expressionless expressive
Phrases: facial expression freedom of expression regular expression free expression gender expression multi-word expression symbolic expression lambda expression

Forms

Plural: expressions → phrases, sayings, statements, utterances…

Choose the right word

Expression or Look?

Expression and look especially refer to the face. Expression is oftenest applied to that which is habitual; as, he has a pleasant expression of countenance; look may be momentary; as, a look of dismay passed over his face.

J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)

Example sentences

word The word processor will save you a lot of trouble.
language Few people can speak a foreign language perfectly.
phrase You should put quotation marks around this phrase.
utterance Technically, a burp could be considered an utterance.
reflection Theater is humanity's active reflection on itself.
manifestation Human and animal sacrifice is manifestation of Satanism.

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
expression		rising
word		rising
language		rising
phrase		steady
utterance		rising
reflection		rising

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

3 letters: air¹
4 letters: look¹, word¹, term¹, sign¹
5 letters: voice¹, idiom³
6 letters: saying², aspect², phrase¹
7 letters: feeling², formula³, diction²
8 letters: language², locution
9 letters: statement², execution⁴, discourse², assertion³, utterance³, reflexion, verbalism
10 letters: reflection³, indication⁴
11 letters: declaration⁴, formulation⁴, countenance³, enunciation
12 letters: construction³
13 letters: manifestation⁵, signification
14 letters: representation⁵

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (idiom³ = 3 syllables).