150+ Verbs That Start With E | Definitions & Examples
Verbs that start with E include familiar everyday words like “eat” and “enter,” as well as more advanced choices such as “exult” and “euphemize.” This guide is designed for students, writers, and English learners who want to choose their wording with greater precision and confidence.
Each entry includes a clear definition, accompanied by example sentences where helpful. Everything is organized alphabetically, so you can quickly scan for the word you need—whether you’re revising a sentence, studying vocabulary, or hunting for the perfect fit in a word game.
55 common verbs that start with E
Here is a list of 55 common verbs that start with the letter E and their definitions
- Earn: To receive money or reward for work or effort
- Eat: To consume food
- Edit: To prepare written material for publication by correcting or revising
- Educate: To provide instruction or information
- Elect: To select by vote for an office, position, or membership
- Eliminate: To remove or get rid of something
- Embarrass: To cause someone to feel awkward, self-conscious, or ashamed
- Embody: To represent or express something in a tangible form
- Embrace: To accept willingly or enthusiastically
- Employ: To give work to someone in exchange for payment
- Empower: To give someone authority or power
- Enable: To make possible or give the means to do something
- Enact: To make into law or act out a role
- Encourage: To give support or confidence to someone
- Endanger: To put someone or something at risk
- Endorse: To give approval or support publicly
- Endure: To suffer through or continue despite difficulty
- Engage: To participate or become involved in
- Enhance: To improve the quality or value of something
- Enlarge: To make something bigger
- Enlist: To formally join or recruit for service
- Enrich: To improve or enhance the quality or value of something
- Enroll: To officially register or sign up
- Ensure: To make certain that something happens
- Entail: To involve something as a necessary part or result
- Enter: To come or go into a place
- Entertain: To provide amusement or enjoyment
- Entice: To attract or tempt by offering pleasure or advantage
- Enumerate: To mention things one by one
- Envelop: To surround or cover completely
- Envision: To imagine or picture something in the future
- Equip: To supply with necessary items or skills
- Erase: To remove or wipe out
- Escalate: To increase or intensify
- Escape: To get free from confinement or danger
- Escort: To accompany someone for protection or guidance
- Establish: To set up or found something
- Estimate: To make an approximate calculation or judgment
- Evaluate: To judge or determine the value or quality of something
- Exaggerate: To represent as being larger, better, or worse than it really is
- Examine: To inspect thoroughly
- Exceed: To go beyond a limit or expectation
- Excel: To be exceptionally good at something
- Exchange: To give something and receive something of the same kind in return
- Excite: To cause strong feelings of enthusiasm or eagerness
- Exclude: To keep someone or something out
- Exhibit: To display or show publicly
- Exist: To have actual being or reality
- Expand: To grow or increase in size, number, or importance
- Expect: To regard something as likely to happen
- Explain: To make clear or understandable
- Explore: To investigate or study thoroughly
- Express: To communicate or show feelings
- Extend: To stretch out or make longer
- Extract: To remove or take out, often with effort
We expect the results by the end of the week.
He explained the rules before the game began.
She was elected class representative by her peers.
The team earned praise for their careful planning.
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155 Advanced verbs that start with E
These verbs that start with E are less common in everyday conversation but frequently appear in academic writing, professional contexts, or literature. Learning these verbs can help you express ideas more precisely, add nuance to your arguments, and better understand complex reading materials.
The list below groups advanced E verbs by letter range to make them easier to explore and study at your own pace.
Verbs that start with EA–EC
Though few in number, these verbs cover a diverse range of actions—from reserving resources to fading away—making them valuable additions to your vocabulary.
- Earmark: To set aside for a specific purpose
- Earwig: To secretly listen to a conversation
- Ease: To make something less painful; to free from something that pains or burdens
- Eavesdrop: To listen secretly to what is said in private
- Ebb: To recede or lessen in intensity
- Echo: To repeat a sound or reflect an idea
- Eclipse: To obscure or overshadow something
- Economize: To reduce expenditure or use resources efficiently
As the tide began to ebb, the shoreline revealed hidden rocks and shells.
Verbs that start with ED–EL
Test your knowledge of verbs like “edify” and “eke” with this focused list designed to build your vocabulary.
- Edify: To instruct or improve morally or intellectually
- Efface: To erase or wipe out; to make inconspicuous
- Effectuate: To cause something to happen; to bring about
- Effervesce: To bubble, fizz, or show lively enthusiasm
- Effloresce: To bloom or develop fully
- Effuse: To pour out or spread freely
- Egest: To discharge waste matter
- Eke: To supplement or make something last longer
- Elaborate: To explain in detail
- Elapse: To pass or go by
- Elasticize: To make something elastic or flexible
- Elate: To make extremely happy or proud
- Electrify: To charge with electricity; to excite intensely
- Electrocute: To kill or severely injure by electric shock
- Elevate: To raise to a higher position or level
- Elicit: To get (information, a response, etc.) from someone
- Elide: To omit or leave out
- Eliminate: To remove or get rid of
- Elongate: To extend the length of; to grow in length
- Elucidate: To make clear or explain
- Elude: To avoid; to escape the perception, understanding, or grasp of
The new policy seeks to eliminate unnecessary bureaucracy while maintaining essential services.
Verbs that start with EM–EN
Mastering verbs from “emancipate” to “enunciate” can elevate your language skills and sharpen your ability to communicate complex ideas clearly.
- Emaciate: To make abnormally thin
- Emanate: To originate from
- Emancipate: To free from restraint or oppression
- Embank: To construct a bank or mound (e.g., along a river)
- Embellish: To decorate or enhance with details
- Embezzle: To misappropriate something, such as property entrusted to one’s care
- Embolden: To give courage or confidence
- Embrittle: To make brittle or fragile
- Emcee: To act as a master of ceremonies
- Emblazon: To inscribe or display a design on a surface
- Embroider: To decorate with needlework or embellish a story
- Emend: To correct or revise text
- Emote: To express emotion dramatically (especially in acting)
- Empanel: To select jurors for a panel
- Empathize: To share or understand another’s feelings
- Emulate: To imitate with the intent of equaling or surpassing
- Enamor: To fill with love or captivate
- Encapsulate: To express the essential aspects of something briefly
- Enchain: To bind with chains
- Encompass: To include comprehensively; to surround
- Encroach: To intrude gradually on territory or rights
- Encrypt: To convert information into code
- Endear: To make beloved or appealing
- Endeavor: To try hard to do or achieve something.
- Endow: To provide with income, property, or ability
- Energize: To give vitality or enthusiasm
- Enervate: To make someone feel drained of energy or vitality
- Enfeeble: To make weak or feeble
- Engender: To cause or give rise to (a feeling, situation, or condition)
- Enjoin: To direct or impose by authoritative order
- Enlighten: To give intellectual or spiritual knowledge
- Enliven: To make lively or spirited
- Enmesh: To entangle or involve
- Ennoble: To raise to the rank of nobility; to make someone more dignified
- Enrage: To make very angry
- Enrapture: To fill with delight
- Ensnare: To capture or trap
- Entomb: To place in a tomb
- Entrench: To establish deeply and securely
- Entrust: To assign responsibility to
- Enunciate: To pronounce clearly
She worked tirelessly to enact new policies that would improve community health.
Verbs that start with EP–EU
This group includes verbs that tend to appear in more formal or analytical contexts, especially when describing judgments, actions, or shifts in intensity.
- Epigrammatize: To express something in an epigram (a witty saying)
- Epilate: To remove hair from the body, especially by pulling it out from the root
- Epitomize: To be a perfect example of
- Equalize: To make equal or level
- Equate: To consider (one thing) to be the same as or equivalent to another
- Equivocate: To speak ambiguously to avoid commitment
- Equipose: To offset or balance in weight or force
- Eradicate: To destroy completely; to remove or abolish
- Err: To make a mistake
- Erupt: To burst forth suddenly
- Eschew: To deliberately avoid
- Espouse: To adopt or support (a cause, belief, etc.)
- Essentialize: To set up, found, or institute
- Esteem: To regard with respect
- Estrange: To cause someone to become emotionally distant or no longer close
- Etch: To carve or imprint
- Eulogize: To praise highly in speech or writing
- Euphemize: To refer to something bad or offensive in softer, vaguer terms
- Euthanize: To kill (an animal) humanely, especially to stop it suffering
In his speech, she eulogized the founder while carefully eschewing any mention of recent controversies.
You may also notice spelling variants such as -ize and -ise (equalize/equalise). Both are correct; American English consistently uses -ize, while British English may use -ize or -ise, depending on style and convention.
Verbs that start EV-EX
This group includes verbs that often appear in academic, professional, and formal writing, making them especially useful when you need precision rather than everyday phrasing.
- Evacuate: To remove from danger or empty out
- Evade: To avoid or escape from
- Evanesce: To fade from sight or memory
- Evince: To show clearly; to demonstrate
- Evoke: To call forth or bring to mind
- Exacerbate: To make worse or more severe
- Exalt: To raise in rank, power, or character
- Exasperate: To irritate greatly
- Excavate: To dig out and remove earth
- Excommunicate: To officially exclude someone from membership in a religious community
- Exemplify: To serve as an example of
- Exert: To apply effort or influence
- Exhale: To breathe out (irregular but common)
- Exhort: To urge or advise fervently
- Exhume: To dig up (especially a body)
- Exile: To banish or expel
- Exit: To go out or depart
- Exonerate: To free from blame or guilt
- Exorcise: To drive out an evil spirit
- Expend: To use up resources, like money or energy
- Expedite: To speed up or facilitate
- Expire: To come to an end; to die (used metaphorically)
- Explode: To burst violently
- Exploit: To take advantage of
- Export: To send goods out for sale elsewhere
- Expose: To uncover or make visible
- Extol: To praise enthusiastically
- Extrapolate: To infer beyond the given data
- Extricate: To free from difficulty or entanglement
- Exude: To ooze or give off slowly
- Exult: To show or feel triumphant joy
Fans exulted in the team’s unexpected victory, celebrating long into the night.
Frequently asked questions about verbs starting with E
- What are some action verbs that start with E?
-
Action verbs that start with E describe activities or processes. Here are some examples:
- Enter
- Engage
- Escape
- Explore
- Execute
- Expand
- Embrace
- Examine
- Enlist
- Evade
- Elevate
- Embark
- Empower
- Enact
- Enforce
If you want more action verbs starting with E, along with definitions and example sentences, try asking QuillBot’s AI Chat—it can show you tailored lists and explanations instantly.
- What are some positive verbs that start with E?
-
Positive verbs express improvement, encouragement, or beneficial actions. Some common verbs starting with E include:
- Empower
- Encourage
- Enhance
- Enrich
- Enable
- Energize
- Elevate
- Embrace
- Enliven
- Endorse
- Endear
- Enlighten
- Enamor
- Enchant
- Exalt
For more positive verbs that start with E, plus context-specific examples, QuillBot’s free AI Chat can help you explore more options.
- What are some verbs that start with E?
-
Some verbs that start with E include:
- Earn
- Eat
- Eavesdrop
- Edit
- Elaborate
- Elect
- Eliminate
- Elope
- Embarrass
- Embellish
- Embezzle
- Embrace
- Embody
- Empower
- Emulate
- End
- Energize
- Enjoy
- Escape
- Excite
QuillBot’s free AI Chat can show you more verbs that end with the letter E.
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Nikolopoulou, K. (2026, January 27). 150+ Verbs That Start With E | Definitions & Examples. Quillbot. Retrieved February 8, 2026, from https://quillbot.com/blog/word-finder/verbs-that-start-with-e/
