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.

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.

ado/adieu
An ado is a fuss, and adieu is French for farewell. They sound similar but aren't exactly twins. Ado sounds
like "uh-doo" and adieu is like "a-dyoo," you know, in a cool French accent.

adopt/adapt
Adopt is to take something over, and to adapt is to change something to suit your needs.

adverse/averse
Adverse and averse are both turn-offs, but adverse is something harmful, and averse is a strong feeling of
dislike. Rainstorms can cause adverse conditions, and many people are averse to rain

affect/effect
Choosing between affect and effect can be scary. Think of Edgar Allan 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.

afflict/inflict
Both afflict and inflict cause pain, but afflict means 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.

aggravate/irritate
Aggravate means to make something worse, and irritate is to annoy. But if you use aggravate to mean
"annoy," no one will notice. That battle has been lost in all but the most formal writing.

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.

allusion/illusion/delusion
Novelists, magicians, and other tricksters keep these words busy. Novelists love an allusion, 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.

ambiguous/ambivalent
Something ambiguous is unclear or vague, like the end of a short story that leaves you scratching your head.
But if you're ambivalent about something, you can take it or leave it. Whatever.

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.
amoral/immoral
Both have to do with right and wrong, but amoral 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

amuse/bemuse
People often use the word bemuse when they mean amuse, but to amuse is to entertain, and to bemuse is to
confuse. In Alice in Wonderland, the White Rabbit amuses Alice as he frolics, but then the Cheshire
Cat bemuses her when he tells her to go two directions at once.

anecdote/antidote
An anecdote is a funny little story; an antidote 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

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.

ascent/assent
Assent refers to agreement, while an ascent is a climb. Before we make our way to the top of Mount Everest,
we need to make sure our guide assents to our ascent.

assume/presume
Assume and presume both mean to believe something before it happens, but when you assume you're not
really sure. If someone bangs on your door in the middle of the night, you might assume (and hope!) it's
your crazy neighbor. If your neighbor knocks on your door every night at 6:30, at 6:29 you
can presume she's coming over in a minute.

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.

aural/oral/verbal
Aural refers to the ear or hearing, and oral to the mouth or speaking. Something verbal is 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.

bare/bear
Bare means naked, but to bear is to carry something. A bear is also a brown furry animal.

bazaar/bizarre
Bazaar and bizarre might sound alike but a bazaar is a market and bizarre describes something kooky.
There could be a bizarre bazaar run by monkeys selling people feet.

breach/breech
If you break a contract, it's a breach. If you're talking about pantaloons, guns, or feet-first babies,
use breech with a double "e."
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.

callus/callous
These words sound the same, but they’re not. A callus is a rough patch of skin. Add an o for “offensive”
and you get callous, an adjective meaning “insensitive to the feelings of others
capital/capitol
A capital is a stash of money or the government headquarters of a state. Oh, a capitol is a building.

censor/censure
A censor hides information. A censure is harsh criticism. They're both judgments and they both stink.

chord/cord
Chord and cord sound the same, but a chord is three or more notes played together while a cord is basically
a thick string. You strum a chord, but you tie a cord.

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!

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

concurrent/consecutive
Bad guys don't like these words because they often describe jail terms: concurrent means at the same time,
and consecutive means one after the other in a series.

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.

connote/denote
Don't let the rhyme fool you — to connote is to imply a meaning or condition, and to denote is to define
exactly. Connote is like giving a hint, but to denote is to refer to something outright.

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

correlation/corollary
A correlation is exactly what it sounds like: a co-relation, or relationship — like the correlation 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.
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 to counsel you on how to keep them straight

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.

demur/demure
To demur is to show reluctance or to hesitate, like not quite getting in the car when someone opens the door,
but demure isalways an adjective describing a modest, reserved, or shy person, and sounds like the mew of
a tiny kitten.

desert/dessert
A desert is a hot and dry place like the Sahara, but add an s and some whipped cream and you have
a dessert, a sweet treat to eat. Dessert has two s's because you always want two

didactic/pedantic
Both words relate to teaching, but didactic teaches a lesson and pedantic just shows off the facts

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.

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

discreet/discrete
Discreet means on the down low, under the radar, careful, but discrete means individual or detached

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.

disinterested/uninterested
If you're disinterested, you're unbiased; you're out of the loop. But if you're uninterested, you don't give a
hoot; you're bored.

disperse/disburse
To disperse is to scatter, and to disburse is to pay. Don’t get them mixed up — you don’t want your money
to disperse!

dual/duel
Dual is two, or double, but a duel is a fight. If you're getting sick of your fair-weather
friend's dual personality, perhaps you should throw down your glove and challenge him to a duel at noon.
economic/economical
Economic is all about how money works, but something economical is a good deal. You might take
an economic studies class to understand the ebb and flow of cash in the world, but if you buy a used textbook
for it, you're being economical.

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!

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 birds in the winter.

eminent/imminent
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

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

endemic/epidemic
Endemic and epidemic are both words that diseases love, but something endemic is found in a certain
placeand is ongoing, and epidemic describes a disease that's widespread.

epidemic/pandemic
A pandemic is like an epidemic on steroids. Both are words for a widespread disease, but a pandemic can
spread across continents, while an epidemic affects a smaller population. An epidemic disease can originate
in one area but grow to be a pandemic as it infects people all over the world.

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,

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.

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, but jealousy is when you're worried someone's trying to take what you have. If you want
your neighbor's new convertible, you feel envy. If she takes your husband for a ride, you feel jealousy.

epitaph/epithet
An epitaph is written on a tombstone. An epithet is a nickname or a description of someone.

exalt/exult
To exalt, means to glorify or elevate something, but to exult is to rejoice. Exalt your favorite pro-wrestler,
Jesus, or your status in the world. Exult when you get the last two tickets to see your favorite band.
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

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. But expeditious is speedy, like
your expeditious exit from the school cafeteria after you spilled spaghetti and meatballs all over your shirt

extant/extent
extant means "still here," and extent refers to "the range of something.

facetious/factious/fatuous
The word facetious describes something you don't take seriously. Remove the middle "e,"
and factious describes a dissenting group. And finally there's fatuous, which is a fancy way to say dumb.

faint/feint
Anything faint is barely there, but a feint is a fake out.

farther/further
Use the word farther when you mean physical distance, like if you run farther than your friend.
Use further for basically everything else. Further refers to abstractions like ideas or thoughts.

faze/phase
To faze is to disturb, bother, or embarrass, but a phase is a stage or step.

ferment/foment
to ferment is to cause a chemical change to food or drink, like turning grapes into wine, but to foment is to
stir up trouble, like turning a group of people into an angry mob.

fictional/fictitious/fictive
Fictional, fictive, and fictitious all branch off the "fiction" tree, but fictional is literary, fictive is specific,
and fictitious is just plain fake

figuratively/literally
Figuratively means metaphorically, and literally describes something that actually happened. If you say
that a guitar solo literally blew your head off, your head should not be attached to your body.

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'.

flounder/founder
flounder is to struggle, but to founder is to sink like a stone and fail.

A flounder is a fish, but as a verb, it means to blunder about, to be in serious trouble.

A founder is someone who starts something, but as a verb, founder literally means "to sink.
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. But formally comes from formal, or fancy, like
the prom

fortunate/fortuitous
Fortunate is lucky, but fortuitous means by chance or accident

gambit/gamut
A gambit is a kind of sacrifice, while a gamut is a range. Your offer to do more chores might be a gambit to
get a higher allowance — but if your parents simply pile on more tasks without offering more cash, your
feelings might run the gamut from sad to angrily disappointed.

gig/jig
Gig with a hard "g" is a job. Jig, on the other hand, is a dance

gorilla/guerrilla
You might see a gorilla in a zoo, but a guerrilla (sometimes spelled with one "r"), is someone who belongs
to a group of independent fighters.

grisly/gristly/grizzly
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

hale/hail
Hale describes someone hearty and healthy. Rarr. All hail the next word! To hail is to greet enthusiastically.

hero/protagonist
A hero is the firefighter who pulls you out of a burning car. The protagonist is the main character in the
story you write about it

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.

homonym/homophone/homograph
A homograph is a word that has the same spelling as another word but has a different sound and a different
meaning: lead (to go in front of)/lead (a metal)

A homophone is a word that has the same sound as another word but has a different
meaning. Homophones may or may not have the same spelling. Here are some examples: to/two/too

homograph means drawn or written, so a homograph has the same spelling. The –phone ending means
sound or voice, so a homophone has the same pronunciation.

In the strictest sense, a homonym must be both a homograph and a homophone. So say many dictionaries.
However, other dictionaries allow that a homonym can be a homograph or a homophone.

hone/home
To hone is to sharpen a knife or perfect a skill. Home is where you live
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.

incredible/incredulous
Incredible describes something you can't believe because it's so right, like an incredible double
rainbow. Incredulous describes 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.

inflammable/inflammatory

Inflammable refers to something that is easy to set on fire; something flammable.

Inflammatory is also related to fire, although figuratively, and makes use of intensifier in-. Used
literally, inflammatory describes something that is inflamed, that is, red, swollen, and hot.

ingenious/ingenuous
Anything ingenious is smart and clever, but ingenuous means innocent and naive.

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

instant/instance
Around the Vocabulary.com office, we might like an instance of tea, but we vehemently oppose instant tea

introvert/extrovert
These two personality types are opposites — introverts focus inward, into their own thoughts,
and extroverts focus outward, into the world

loath/loathe
Confusion between loath ("unwilling or reluctant") and loathe ("to hate") is a growing trend

lose/loose
Lose sounds like snooze. If you lose something, you don’t have it anymore. Add an "o," and loose rhymes
with goose and describes something that’s not attached.

mantle/mantel
A mantle is a covering, like a robe. But a mantel is a ledge over a fireplace

marital/martial
Marital has to do with marriage, and martial is concerned with fighting.

medal/meddle/mettle

A medal is a disc made of metal with an inscription or image. It is generally used as an award or a
commemoration of an event:

To meddle is to interfere with someone or something:

Finally, mettle is a quality or qualities that help a person in a difficult situation. Those qualities might
include courage, ardor, and stamina

morbid/moribund
Morbid describes something gruesome, like smallpox or Frankenstein's monster. Moribund refers to the act
of dying

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

naval/navel

Navel refers to the spot in the middle of your belly where the umbilical cord was once attached. The oranges
are refer to as thus because they have a dimple that resembles, well, a navel.

Navel gazing refers to being obsessed with oneself or solely focused on one issue, generally a minor one:

Naval on the other hand, pertains to a navy, that branch of the military that operates at sea.

optimistic/pessimistic
An optimistic person expects all the best things to happen! Is it raining money yet? A pessimistic person is
a downer. Who cares if it's raining money? They'll never get any.

paradox/oxymoron
A paradox is a logical puzzle that seems to contradict itself. No it isn't. Actually, it is. An oxymoron is a
figure of speech — words that seem to cancel each other out, like "working vacation" or "instant classic.

parameter/perimeter
Parameter is a limit that affects how something can be done, and perimeter is the outline of a physical area

parody/parity
A parody is a silly spoof and parity is equality, and that's no joke.

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: A peek is a glance or a quick look. Finally, pique is to upset or excite someone.

peddle/pedal/petal
Pedal/peddle/petal is one such set of homophones. A pedal is a lever controlled with the foot,

To peddle can mean to travel around selling items . petal is a flower's brightly colored leaf that joins with
other petals to form the flower's corolla

persecute/prosecute

To persecute is to make someone suffer or to keep them in bad circumstances. To prosecute is to participate
in or pursue something to completion, like a government’s intention to prosecute a war.
personal/personnel

When something's personal, it's all about you.

Personnel is a noun describing a group of people who follow orders, usually at a company. If you have a
job, you’re probably considered personnel to be managed.

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.

pragmatic/dogmatic
If you're pragmatic, you're practical. You're living in the real world, wearing comfortable shoes. If
you're dogmatic, you follow the rules. You're living in the world you want, and acting a little stuck up about
it.

precede/proceed

Precede is to go before. Proceed means to move ahead, to continue.

precedent/president

Precedent refers to something that went before; President refers to the leader of an organization, the chief
presider.

premier/premiere

Premier is another way of saying “first” or “best” like the premier ice cream store on the block that always
has a line snaking around the corner. In a political sense a premier is a head of state.

A premiere is the first showing of a work of art.

prescribe/proscribe
To prescribe is to recommend and to proscribe is to forbid.

principal/principle

A principle is a fundamental or general truth. It might also be the original (fundamental) source of
something. In principle refers to something in its fundamentals without all the details worked out:

Principal, on the other hand, is the person with the highest authority in a group, such as a school principal
or the principal investor in a company. It is also the original sum of money or assets invested or lent

prostate/prostrate

A prostate (no r)is a gland in front of the bladder of male mammals. You often hear about men having
enlarged prostates or prostate cancer:

Add that second "r" in there, and prostrate means to lie or bow down. You might prostrate yourself before
royalty, or lie prostrate on the floor if you have the flu or if your best friend just died.
rebut/refute
To rebut is to try to prove something isn't true, but to refute is to actually prove it isn't.

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.

Scrimp is the saving side of the coin. As an adjective, it means meager, scanty. To scrimp is to be sparing
with or thrifty; to save slowly and with difficulty.

Skimp, which most likely derives from scrimp, is the spending-less side of the coin. As an adjective, it also
means meager or barely enough.

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

slight/sleight

Slight is usually an adjective that describes things that are small, flimsy, or insignificant, like a slight drop
in the temperature. If a book critic refers to a novel as slight, she could mean either that it’s short or that
it’s trivial in its concerns.

Sleight, on the other hand, means being crafty and clever, often by being quick-handed. It’s most commonly
used in the phrase “sleight of hand.” A magician uses sleight of hand to pull a quarter from behind your ear.

stationary/stationery

stationary means still, unmovable, like bad weather that lingers or a parked car: stationery is writing paper.

statue/statute

A statue is a figure of a person, animal, or object that is carved or cast from some material, such as marble
or iron. But a statute is a written law, such as that of a particular government or organization:

tortuous/torturous
Tortuous, pronounced "TOR-choo-us," describes something that has many twists and turns, like a
zigzagging road or the plot of a soap opera.

torturous, pronounced "TOR-cher-us," used to identify something that somehow involves extreme pain or
suffering (torture):

troop/troupe
Troop and a troupe both rhyme with "group," but a troop is a group of soldiers or scouts, while a troupe is
a group of performers. To keep these two homophones straight, just remember that troop has two “o”s like
soldiers lining up in matching uniforms.
turbid/turgid

If a liquid is dark and murky and you can't see through it, it's turbid. It’s usually used as a criticism —
a turbid river is generally a polluted one, but then again a good pint of real ale should be turbid.

Turgid describes something that's swollen, typically by fluids, like a turgid water balloon that's way too big
to resist dropping on your friend's head.

undo/undue
To undo something is to make it go back to its original state. Undue means “undeserved or excessive.

venal/venial

Venial means minor in the circumstances; when speaking specifically of sins, it's a slight sin, such as
occasionally getting drunk or giving in to small temptations.

Venal means corruptible, able to be bribed. Politicians are often described as venal. Adolf Hitler, Fidel
Castro, and Saddam Hussein certainly wear that label.

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.

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.

weather/whether/wether

Weather is the atmospheric conditions

A wether is a ram or billy goat that was castrated at a young age.

The word whether indicates a choice. You can decide whether to go to the movies.

wreck/wreak/reek
To wreck is to ruin something, to wreak is to cause something to happen, and to reek is to smell bad.