abhorrent/aberrant
Abhorrent describes something truly horrible like finding a dead rat
in your soup, but something aberrant is just abnormal, like a cat in a
pink fedora. Continue reading...
accept/except
To accept is to receive, and except is to exclude, usually. Both are
busy little words skipping around to different meanings, but they
never run into each other.Continue reading...
adopt/adapt
"Adopt, adapt, and improve," says the thief in a Monty Python skit
when he robs a lingerie shop instead of a bank. Adopt is to take
something over, and to adapt is to change something to suit your
needs. It's helpful advice when you ask for money and get a pair of
granny panties.Continue reading...
adverse/averse
Adverse and averse are both turn-offs, butadverse is something
harmful, and averse is a strong feeling of dislike. Rainstorms can
cause adverse conditions, and many people are averse to rain. Continue
reading...
affect/effect
Choosing between affect and effect can be scary. Think of Edgar Allen
Poe and his RAVEN: Remember Affect Verb Effect Noun. You can't affect
the creepy poem by reading it, but you can enjoy the effect of a
talking bird. Continue reading...
afflict/inflict
Both afflict and inflict cause pain, but afflictmeans to cause
suffering or unhappiness, something a disease does, but inflict means
to force pain or suffering, like if you smack someone upside the
head.Continue reading...
aggravate/irritate
Aggravate means to make something worse, and irritate is to annoy. But
if you useaggravate to mean "annoy," no one will notice. That battle
has been lost in all but the most formal writing. Continue reading...
allude/elude
Allude is coy, to allude is to refer to something in an indirect
manner. But elude's favorite thing to do is hide from the cops; it
means to evade. Because the accent is on the second syllable in both
words, it's easy to get them mixed up. Continue reading...
allusion/illusion/delusion
Novelists, magicians, and other tricksters keep these words busy.
Novelists love anallusion, an indirect reference to something like a
secret treasure for the reader to find; magicians heart illusions, or
fanciful fake-outs; but tricksters suffer from delusions,ideas that
have no basis in reality.Continue reading...
alternate/alternative
To alternate is to take turns; an alternativeis an option. When you
wear your checkered blazer, the black and white squares alternate. But
if you're not feeling like an '80s guitar hero, the green plaid jacket
is a nice alternative.Continue reading...
ambiguous/ambivalent
Something ambiguous is unclear or vague, like the end of a short story
that leaves you scratching your head. But if you'reambivalent about
something, you can take it or leave it. Whatever. Continue reading...
amicable/amiable
Amicable refers to a friendliness or goodwill between people or
groups. Amiable refers to one person's friendly disposition. A group
might have an amicable meeting, because the people there are
amiable.Continue reading...
amoral/immoral
Both have to do with right and wrong, butamoral means having no sense
of either, like a fish, but the evil immoral describes someone who
knows the difference, doesn't care, and says "mwah ha ha" while
twirling a mustache. Continue reading...
amuse/bemuse
People often use the word bemuse when they mean amuse, but to amuse is
to entertain, and to bemuse is to confuse. InAlice in Wonderland, the
White Rabbitamuses Alice as he frolics, but then the Cheshire Cat
bemuses her when he tells her to go two directions at once.Continue
reading...
anecdote/antidote
An anecdote is a funny little story; anantidote counteracts poison.
Tell someone an anecdote about your close encounter with a rattlesnake
and how the cute park ranger had to get you the antidote for snake
venom right away. Continue reading...
appraise/apprise
To appraise is to estimate the value of something, but remove the
second "a," and you have apprise, which means "to tell." If you hire
someone to appraise your house, you might have to apprise your family
of the fact that you now owe the bank more than your house is worth.
Continue reading...
assume/presume
Assume and presume both mean to believe something before it happens,
but when youassume you're not really sure. If someone bangs on your
door in the middle of the night, you might assume it's your crazy
neighbor. If your neighbor knocks on your door every night at 6:30, at
6:29 you canpresume she's coming over in a minute.Continue reading...
assure/ensure/insure
Although these three often show up at the same party, giving hugs,
they're not the same, thank you very much. To assure is to tell
someone everything's ok, to ensure is to make certain, and to insure
is to protect financially. Have it straight now? Are you sure?
Continue reading...
aural/oral/verbal
Aural refers to the ear or hearing, and oralto the mouth or speaking.
Something verbalis expressed in words, either spoken or written.
Listen to the aural sensations of songs from outer space when you've
been gassed for your oral surgery. Then stay non-verbal because you
can't use words for a long time after the dentist wakes you
up.Continue reading...
bare/bear
Bare means naked, but to bear is to carry something. A bear is also a
brown furry animal, but most people keep that one straight. Continue
reading...
bazaar/bizarre
Bazaar and bizarre might sound alike but abazaar is a market and
bizarre describes something kooky. There could be a bizarre bazaar run
by monkeys selling people feet.Continue reading...
bridal/bridle
Bridal is related to a bride, but bridle refers to a part of a horse's
harness and what you do with it. Although the words sound the same,
they run in different circles unless you're getting a horse ready for
her wedding. Continue reading...
capital/capitol
Aha! A capital is a stash of money or the government headquarters of a
state. Oh, acapitol is a building. Continue reading...
censor/censure
A censor hides information. A censure is harsh criticism. They're both
judgments and they both stink. Continue reading...
cite/site/sight
All are good for research papers: cite is short for citation, site is
a place, and sight is what your eyeballs are for. The Web has a lot to
answer for, good and bad. One item in the minus column is the
increased popularity of site and people throwing these sound-alikes
all over the place! Continue reading...
climactic/climatic
Climactic describes the high point, the most intense part of a movie,
play, song, or, well, anything. Climatic refers to the climate, like
the climatic changes that turned Santa's workshop into a sauna for
elves.Continue reading...
complement/compliment
Both are awesome on a first date —complement means to complete
something, and a compliment is flattering. If you feel you and your
new friend complement each other, maybe it's because he's been giving
you so many compliments like when he says you look like a
supermodel.Continue reading...
compose/comprise
Compose is to make up a whole, andcomprise is to contain parts.
Poodlescompose the dog class because the classcomprises poodles. The
parts compose the whole, and the whole comprises the parts. Confused?
Everybody else is!Continue reading...
concurrent/consecutive
Bad guys don't like these words because they often describe jail
terms: concurrentmeans at the same time, and consecutivemeans one
after the other in a series. Con artists would rather serve concurrent
terms and get them over with, instead ofconsecutive ones. Continue
reading...
confident/confidant(e)
Confident is how you feel on a good hair day, but a confidant is the
person you tell when you're secretly wearing a wig. It's no wonder
that these words are so easily confused: they were once both
confident.Continue reading...
connote/denote
Don't let the rhyme fool you — to connote is to imply a meaning or
condition, and todenote is to define exactly. Connote is like giving a
hint, but to denote is to refer to something outright. Continue
reading...
conscious/conscience
Both words have to do with the mind, but it's more important to be
conscious, or awake, than conscience, or aware of right and wrong.
Remain conscious while listening to your friend's moral dilemma so you
can use your conscience to give good advice.Continue reading...
contemptible/contemptuous
Something contemptible is worthy of scorn, like the contemptible jerk
who's mean to your sister; but contemptuous is full of it, like the
contemptuous look you give that guy as he speeds away in his gas
guzzler.Continue reading...
continual/continuous
The words continual and continuous are like twins: they both come from
continue, but they get mad if you get them confused.Continual means
start and stop, whilecontinuous means never-ending.Continue reading...
correlation/corollary
A correlation is exactly what it sounds like: aco-relation, or
relationship — like thecorrelation between early birds waking up and
the sun rising. But corollary is more like a consequence, like the
corollary of the rooster crowing because you smacked it in the beak.
Both words love the math lab but can hang with the rest of us,
too.Continue reading...
council/counsel
A council is meeting for discussion or advice, but to counsel is a
verb meaning to give advice. They sound exactly the same, but the
language council met and decided tocounsel you on how to keep them
straight.Continue reading...
decent/descent/dissent
Decent is all buttoned up. Descent has all the fun because it gets to
climb down a mountain. Dissent is what you do when the glee club wants
to get matching red outfits but you like purple. Continue reading...
demur/demure
To demur is to show reluctance or to hesitate, like not quite getting
in the car when someone opens the door, but demureisalways an
adjective describing a modest, reserved, or shy person, and sounds
like the mew of a tiny kitten. Continue reading...
disassemble/dissemble
Disassemble is to take something apart, like an old car motor, but
dissemble is sneaky — it means to hide your true self, like the guy
who said he was a mechanic but had never actually seen a motor, much
less put one back together. Continue reading...
discomfit/discomfort
To discomfit is to embarrass someone. Say it with a Southern accent
while sipping sweet tea. Discomfort is a noun meaning uncomfortable,
like the feeling you get when you realize you put salt instead of
sugar in Mama's tea. Continue reading...
discreet/discrete
Discreet means on the down low, under the radar, careful, but discrete
means individual or detached. They come from the same ultimate source,
the Latin discrētus, for separated or distinct, but discreet has taken
its own advice and quietly gone its separate way. Continue reading...
disillusion/dissolution
To disillusion someone is to rid her of an illusion, like lifting up
the curtain to show that the wizard is just a man. Dissolution, on the
other hand, is when everything falls apart. Both are disappointing.
Continue reading...
disinterested/uninterested
If you're disinterested, you're unbiased; you're out of the loop. But
if you'reuninterested, you don't give a hoot; you're bored. These two
words have been duking it out, but the battle may be over
foruninterested. Heavyweight disinterested has featherweight
uninterested on the ropes.Continue reading...
dual/duel
Seeing double? Not quite! Dual is two, or double, but a duel is a
fight. If you're getting sick of your fair-weather friend's
dualpersonality, perhaps you should throw down your glove and
challenge him to a duel at high noon. Continue reading...
economic/economical
Economic is all about how money works, but something economical is a
good deal. You might take an economic studiesclass to understand the
ebb and flow of cash in the world, but if you buy a used textbook for
it, you're being economical.Continue reading...
elusive/illusive
An elusive fairy is one you can't catch, but an illusive one was never
really there at all. It was just an illusion! Continue reading...
emigrate/immigrate/migrate
Going somewhere? Emigrate means to leave one's country to live in
another.Immigrate is to come into another country to live permanently.
Migrate is to move, like bird in the winter. Continue reading...
eminent/imminent
No, it's not the name of the latest rapper from Detroit — eminent
describes anyone who's famous. But imminent refers to something about
to happen, like the next big thing's imminent rise to the top. These
two words sound the same to some, but they're unrelated. Continue
reading...
empathy/sympathy
Empathy is heartbreaking — you experience other people's pain and joy.
Sympathy is easier because you just have to feel sorry for someone.
Send a sympathy card if someone's cat died; feel empathy if your cat
died, too. Continue reading...
endemic/epidemic
Endemic and epidemic are both words that diseases love, but something
endemic is found in a certain placeand is ongoing, andepidemic
describes a disease that's widespread. Continue reading...
entitle/title
To entitle means to give someone a rank or right, like if your perfect
attendance entitlesyou to free ice cream at lunch. A title is the name
of something, like the title of a song you wrote about ice
cream.Continue reading...
entomology/etymology
Don't bug out! Entomology is the study of insects, but etymology is
the study of words. They sound similar and both end in -logy,which
means "the study of," but don't mix them up unless you like completely
confusing people. Continue reading...
envelop/envelope
To envelop is to surround something completely. But an envelope is a
piece of paper you put your love note in and lick to seal. With
enVElop, the accent is on the second syllable, while with ENvelope,
the accent is on the first. Continue reading...
envy/jealousy
It's no fun to feel envy or jealousy because both make you feel
inadequate. Envy is when you want what someone else has, butjealousy
is when you're worried someone's trying to take what you have. If you
want your neighbor's new convertible, you feelenvy. If she takes your
husband for a ride, you feel jealousy. Continue reading...
epigram/epigraph
An epigram is a little poem or clever statement, but an epigraph is a
specific kind of epigram: a witty statement that's inscribed
somewhere, such as on a building or at the beginning of a chapter or
book.Continue reading...
epitaph/epithet
An epitaph is written on a tombstone. Anepithet is a nickname or a
description of someone. Halloween graves often combine them: "Here
lies Fearsome Frank, who bet that he could rob a bank.Continue
reading...
especially/specially
The words especially and specially, have just a hair's breadth of
difference between them. Both can be used to mean "particularly."
Continue reading...
exalt/exult
To exalt, means to glorify or elevate something, but to exult is to
rejoice. Exaltyour favorite pro-wrestler, Jesus, or your status in the
world. Exult when you get the last two tickets to see your favorite
band.Continue reading...
exercise/exorcise
While both words can refer to ways to get rid of something — belly
fat, Satan — that's where the similarities end. Exercise is physical
activity but to exorcise is to cast out evil. Continue reading...
expedient/expeditious
Something expedient is helpful to you. If you vote your friend in for
student body president just because you know she'll hook you up —
that's an expedient choice. Butexpeditious is speedy, like your
expeditiousexit from the voting booth because you know didn't do the
right thing. Continue reading...
extant/extent
They sounds similar and both have exes, but extant means "still here,"
and extentrefers to "the range of something." People get them mixed up
to a certain extent.Continue reading...
faze/phase
To faze is to disturb, bother, or embarrass, but a phase is a stage or
step. It could fazeyour family if your princess phase lasts well into
your college years. Continue reading...
figuratively/literally
Figuratively means metaphorically, andliterally describes something
that actually happened. If you say that a guitar sololiterally blew
your head off, your head should not be attached to your body.Continue
reading...
flair/flare
Flair is a talent for something, like what the pro-wrestler Nature Boy
Ric Flair had back in the day. Flare is on a candle or the shape of
bell-bottoms that kids rocked back in the heyday of wrastlin'.
Continue reading...
flaunt/flout
Flaunt is to show off, but flout is to ignore the rules. Rebels do
both — they flaunt their new pink motorcycles by popping a wheelie,
and flout the law by running a red light.Continue reading...
flounder/founder
To flounder is to struggle, but to founder is to sink like a stone and
fail. Both are fun as nouns, not so fun as verbs.Continue reading...
formerly/formally
Formerly is something that happened before, like when a pop star
changed his name to a squiggle, he became known as The Artist Formerly
Known as Prince. Butformally comes from formal, or fancy, like the
prom. Continue reading...
formidable/formative
Formidable describes a foe you're slightly afraid of, but formative
describes what formed you. Perhaps a formidablegymteacher scared the
pants off you during your formative years in grade school, and now
you're a world-class athlete. (Or a bookworm, depending on how you
react toformidable foes.) Continue reading...
fortunate/fortuitous
Get our your lucky rabbit's foot! Fortunate is lucky, but fortuitous
means by chance or accident. Silly rabbit, these words aren't the
same. Continue reading...
gibe/jibe
To gibe is to sneer or heckle, but to jibe is to agree. Funny thing
is, though, jibe is an alternate spelling of gibe, so surprise! People
get them mixed up.Continue reading...
gorilla/guerrilla
You might see a gorilla in a zoo, but aguerrilla (sometimes spelled
with one "r"), is someone who belongs to a group of independent
fighters. If you remember your high school Spanish, you'll know the
difference. Continue reading...
grisly/gristly/grizzly
Blood, guts, and man-eaters, oh my! Feint of heart turn back now!
Grisly means relating to horror or disgust, gristly means related to
gristle or cartilage, and grizzly is a big ol' bear. That can eat
you.Continue reading...
healthful/healthy
Healthful describes something that will create good health, like
apples, yoga, and fresh air. Healthy describes someone fit, trim, and
utterly not sick. Continue reading...
historic/historical
>Something historic has a great importance to human history. Something historical is related to the past. People with big egos get them mixed up if they say they had a historicfamily background. Unless they helped win a war, it was probably just historical.Continue reading...
hoard/horde
To hoard is to squirrel stuff away, like gold bricks or candy
wrappers. A horde is a crowd of people, usually, but it can also be a
gang of mosquitoes, robots, or rabid zombie kittens. Continue
reading...
homonym/homophone/homograph
This word set can be confusing, even for word geeks. Let's start with
the basics. Ahomograph is a word that has the same spelling as another
word but has a different sound and a different meaning.Continue
reading...
hone/home
To hone is to sharpen a knife or perfect a skill. Home is where you
live, where your stuff is, is where the heart is, and all
that.Continue reading...
imply/infer
Imply and infer are opposites, like a throw and a catch. To imply is
to hint at something, but to infer is to make an educated guess. The
speaker does theimplying, and the listener does the inferring.Continue
reading...
incredible/incredulous
Incredible describes something you can't believe because it's so
right, like anincredible double rainbow. Incredulousdescribes how you
feel when you can't believe something because it's so wrong, like when
someone tells you leprechauns left two pots of gold. Continue
reading...
indeterminate/indeterminable
Understanding the nuances of this word pair, indeterminate and
indeterminable,hinges on understanding the words' parts. The root
word, determine, means to establish something. Continue reading...
indict/indite
If you're using indite to talk about people being formally accused of
lawbreaking, you're using the wrong word: it's indict.Continue
reading...
inflammable/inflammatory
Inflammable and inflammatory can be confused with one another, but
they also offer their own source of confusion with the prefix in-.
Continue reading...
ingenious/ingenuous
Ingenuous means innocent, artless, simple, while ingenious refers to
something original, creative, inventive. Continue reading...
insidious/invidious
Neither insidious nor invidious are happy words: insidious describes
something that lies in wait to get you, and invidious is something
offensive or defamatory. Cancer can be insidious, lurking in your body
without your knowing it. Invidious doesn't hide; it's hateful right
away.Continue reading...
instant/instance
Around the Vocabulary.com office, we might like an instance of tea,
but we vehemently oppose instant tea. Continue reading...
intense/intensive/intent
If your teacher offered you a choice between an intense course or an
intensive one, which one would you choose? And would you wonder what
his intent was?Continue reading...
laudable/laudatory
Something worthy of praise is laudable.Something or someone that gives
praise islaudatory. Continue reading...
loath/loathe
Confusion between loath ("unwilling or reluctant") and loathe ("to
hate") is a growing trend. Continue reading...
luxuriant/luxurious
In yet another attempt to reduce English to features and selling
points, advertisers often use luxuriant to describe their products or
services. Continue reading...
marital/martial
Marital and martial look almost alike, but the only time they overlap
is when you declare war on your spouse. Marital has to do with
marriage, and martial is concerned with fighting. Continue reading...
mean/median/average
Wordsmiths sometimes dislike numbers, or at least have a hard time
grasping them. These words offer us an opportunity to better
understand numbers and use their terms more precisely in writing and
speaking. Continue reading...
medal/meddle/mettle
Here we have a trio of words that sound the same (at least in American
English) but mean very different things: medal, meddle,and mettle.
Continue reading...
moral/morale
A moral is the lesson of a story. Add an "e" and you have morale: the
spirit of a group that makes everyone want to pitch in and do better.
Continue reading...
morbid/moribund
Morbid describes something gruesome, like smallpox or Frankenstein's
monster.Moribund refers to the act of dying. Goths love both. What
fun! Continue reading...
nauseated/nauseous
If you're nauseated you're about to throw up, if you're nauseous,
you're a toxic funk and you're going to make someone else puke. These
words are used interchangeably so often that it makes word nerds feel
nauseated! Continue reading...
naval/navel
Your navel is in the center of your belly, while naval ships belong
out at sea.Continue reading...
palate/palette/pallet
Palette can refer to a range of colors. A platform used for moving
things is a pallet.And your preference of flavors in food is your
palate. Continue reading...
parameter/perimeter
Parameter is a limit that affects how something can be done, and
perimeter is the outline of a physical area. Both words have special
meanings in math, but they take off their pocket protectors and relax
their definitions when they join the rest of us. Continue reading...
peak/peek/pique
Let's look at three homophones: peak, peek, and pique. Peak is a
topmost point, such as a mountain peak, or to reach that point.
Continue reading...
peddle/pedal/petal
Sometimes the only way to choose your words with homophones is to
memorize their spellings and meanings. Pedal/peddle/petalis one such
set of homophones.Continue reading...
persecute/prosecute
What is it about pursuing legal action that makes people think of
harassing someone? Although we're not sure, it turns out that people
have been confusing persecute andprosecute from the start. Continue
reading...
personal/personnel
Personal and personnel can be confused if the writer is not diligent,
especially as both can be used as a noun and an adjective.Continue
reading...
pitiable/pitiful/piteous/pitiless
We don't often look at four words that can be easily confused for each
other, but this pack is an exception. Continue reading...
pore/pour
A pore is small opening in a surface that lets stuff through. To pour,
on the other hand, means to flow continuously and rapidly.Continue
reading...
practical/practicable
Choosing between practical ("sensible") andpracticable ("possible")
often depends on context. Continue reading...
precede/proceed
These two words have similar sounds. They also have similar
definitions, encompassing an idea of forward movement. This leads to
some confusion. Continue reading...
precedent/president
How has the United States affected this word pair, precedent and
president? Let's find out. Continue reading...
predominate/predominant
If you win an election by a 3:1 margin, are you the predominant winner
or thepredominate winner? Continue reading...
premier/premiere
A premiere is the first public performance of something. If you're
looking for an adjective meaning "the very best," then use
premierwithout the "e" at the end.Continue reading...
principal/principle
If offered a choice, would you rather haveprinciples or principals?
Continue reading...
prophecy/prophesy
One letter separates prophecy fromprophesy, and the close relationship
is derived from a shared word history.Continue reading...
prostate/prostrate
Oh, for the want of a letter! Prostate is a gland found in male
mammals, but prostrate,with an r, means to lie face down. Get them
mixed up and you'll thoroughly confuse your doctor. Continue
reading...
quote/quotation
If you quote someone, do you create aquote or a quotation? To quote is
to transcribe what someone said or wrote, crediting that person.
Continue reading...
rebut/refute
To rebut is to try to prove something isn't true, but to refute is to
actually prove it isn't. Getting them mixed up won't get you kicked
out of the debate club, but it's worth knowing the difference.
Continue reading...
regrettably/regretfully
Regrettably is used when something's a bummer, but it's not
necessarily your fault.Regretfully is when you're full of regret, like
if you decided to stay home and your friends saw your crush at the
dance.Continue reading...
reluctant/reticent
Reluctant means resisting or unwilling, whilereticent means quiet,
restrained, or unwilling to communicate. Is it a distinction worth
preserving? Continue reading...
respectfully/respectively
If you kiss the mob boss's ring, do itrespectfully, or full of respect
and admiration. But respectively means "in the order given," so if you
have to kiss up to the rest of the mob, make sure to shake hands and
high five Jimmy Rags and Tommy Two Face, respectively because Jimmy
prefers a handshake, but Tommy loves a good high five. Continue
reading...
sac/sack
Both are containers, but a sac is for plants and animals, and a sack
is for a sandwich. So spiders put their eggs in a sac, and people put
their groceries in a sack.Continue reading...
scrimp/skimp
These words are two sides of the same coin: ways to get more or to
make something go further. One side is about saving; the other is
about spending less. Continue reading...
sensual/sensuous
The words sensual and sensuous are often used interchangeably, but
careful writers would do well to think before using one or the other.
Continue reading...
simple/simplistic
Simple isn't the same as simplistic. Beingsimplistic means trying to
explain something complicated as being simpler than it is; that is,
oversimplifying. Continue reading...
stationary/stationery
Make sure you're stationary, or still, while you jot down a love
letter on your fancystationery, so the writing isn't all
squiggly.Continue reading...
statue/statute
Look under the pigeons and you might find a bronze statue in a park,
but there's probably a statute, or law, about how big it can be.
Continue reading...
tortuous/torturous
Don't torture yourself trying to remember the difference between
tortuous and torturous.Tortuous describes something like the long and
winding road. But torturous is what a room full of masochists might
say: "Torture us!" It describes something painful, like a poke in the
eye with a sharp stick.Continue reading...
turbid/turgid
Turbid can refer to something thick with suspended matter, while
turgid means swollen or bombastic. Continue reading...
unconscionable/unconscious
These two words look and sound similar. In fact, if you think too hard
about them together, you might find your tongue tripping over them.
Continue reading...
unexceptional/unexceptionable
Clearly, past writers have confused the meanings of unexceptional
andunexceptionable to an extent that meanings are expanding. Continue
reading...
venal/venial
Catholics everywhere are confused: do they commit venal sins or venial
sins? And what is a venal/venial sin anyway?Continue reading...
veracious/voracious
Voracious describes someone super hungry, like a zombie or a wolf. A
voracious appetite makes you want to eat a whole cake. Veracious (with
an "e") means truthful, as in a veracious first president who cannot
tell a lie. Continue reading...
wave/waive
To wave is to move to and fro, like when you wave your hand. Hello
there! To waive, with a sneaky "i," is to give up your right to do
something. Continue reading.
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