What Does EE Mean In Shoe Size? Shoe Width Explained

Shoes in America are marked with length and width. While a number stands for the length, a letter indicates the shoe’s width, starting from A to EEEE.

So, what does EE mean in shoe size? And how can you detect your foot’s width for shoes and boots?

Let’s learn the meaning of EE width and how you can know if your feet are in EE size.

Shoe Width Chart By Letter

When shopping for shoes, you should know your shoe’s width.

The width of a shoe is marked with alphabetical letters, with “A” as the smallest width to “EEEE” as the largest width.

More specifically, the farther the letter, the wider a shoe is.

Moreover, if the shoe’s width has replicated letters (for example, AA), the shoe can be extra narrow (AA) or (AAA) super narrow.

Men’s Shoe Size Width

Women’s Shoe Size Width

Kids’ Shoe Size Width

The shoe width for kids is different from shoes for adults. It is represented in “M” (Medium/Average) and “W” (Wide).

So, What Does EE Mean In Shoe Size?

The meaning of 2E in shoe size (or EE) is “extra wide” in shoes for men and women.

Shoes in EE width are approximately 3.4-5.5 inches across the lower part of your foot’s ball area.

EE, along with EEEE (or 4E) are the most common options for extra-wide shoe sizes.

In the past, few shoe brands offered the EE width option, especially for women. Nowadays, there have been many shoes available in 2E/EE width in the last 10 years.

This change results from two reasons – the foot width of women is becoming bigger, and transgenders create a niche for EE-width shoes.

Check more: Who Has The Biggest Shoe Size In The World?

A Detailed Explanation Of The Shoe Width Scale

A width & Replicated-A width

A-width indicates narrow feet.

The more replicated “A” a shoe is, the narrower it is.

For example, shoes in AA-width (or 2A) are narrower than shoes in A-width.

While A-width is popular in women’s shoes, it is quite rare among men’s shoes, because a few men are having narrow feet.

The A-width is approximately 3.4 to 3.9 inches across your foot’s ball.

B width

B-width is the standard shoe width for women’s shoes but is extra-narrow width for men’s. If women’s shoes aren’t marked as wide or narrow, they can be in B width.

The B-width is approximately 3.6 to 4.1 inches across your foot’s ball.

D width

D-width is the medium or standard shoe width for men’s shoes but is considered wide for women’s shoes.

The D-width is approximately 3 to 5 inches across your foot’s ball, but in fact, it can be 4-5 inches.

If men’s shoes aren’t marked as wide or narrow, they can be in D width.

E width & Replicated-E width

E is the largest width scale for shoes. Similar to the width letter A, the more Es in the shoe’s width, the wider it is.

For example, EEEE is the largest width on the shoe width scale. So shoes in EEEE width are wider than shoes in EEE width.

E-width is the wide shoe width for men’s shoes but is marked as extra wide for women’s shoes.

A shoe with an E-width is 4.2 to 4.7 inches across your foot’s ball (or sometimes it can be 3.2 to 5.2 inches).

Notice: Shoe Letter Width In Boots

Boots are generally smaller than shoes in length and width. So you should run down 0.5 sizes from your standard shoe sizes if you are about to purchase a pair of boots.

For example, if your shoes are 10 inches in length, you should choose boots that are 9.5 inches in length. Plus, the EE width in boots is 0.5 sizes smaller than the EE width in shoes.

Besides, you should consider some other tips for choosing your boot size:

• Just like shoes, you need a break-in period to get familiar with your new boots. So your boots can be slightly tight at first wear.
• Correct sizing is critical when choosing boots. Since boots have a higher top than shoes, they can have different fitting than your low-top sneakers (for example, handmade boots or special boots).
• Not all types of boots have the same fitting. For example, steel-toed boots don’t have the same width as leather cowboy boots. This difference is due to some factors, like the boot size, production techniques, boot brands, etc.

Check more: How To Stretch Cowboy Boots At Home Quickly?

Some Additional Tips On The Shoe Width

• You should have your shoe width measured by a shoe professional at the nearest store. Or, you can take this measurement at home.

No matter which measuring method you choose, you should remember to measure your two feet. And take this measurement in the late afternoon, or after a walk/workout.

• Your feet’ width can change with time.

They can swell and shrink after a long working day, due to weight gain, aging, pregnancy, change in your body’s water retention, or change in your tendons and ligaments.

Thus, the latest measurement is the most accurate one.

• The shoe’s width can be varied by different manufacturers, shoe models, or different lengths of the same shoe model.

FAQs

1. How Much Wider Is 2E Than D?

The E width is 0.25-inch wider than the D width, while EE is 0.25-inch wider than E. So, the 2E width is 0.5 inches wider than the D width.

2. How Much Wider Is EE Than W?

“W” means “Wide” and it is also called “E”.

“EE” is “Extra Wide” and it is 0.25-inch wider than “E”.

So, EE is wider than W, and it is 0.25-inch wider.

3. Do All Shoe Brands Offer EE Width?

Not all shoe brands offer shoes in EE width, especially ones for women.

Final Words

Now you have understood what EE is on shoe size and why this width option becomes more popular in the last 10 years.

Some people wear shoes in medium or narrow widths, but it turns out that they should wear wide-width shoes.

To pick up your perfect shoe width and length, you should take the latest measurements of your left and right feet, then compare them with the standard shoe width scale.