3/31/13 2:48 PMCommonly confused words - Oxford Dictionaries Online (US)

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Commonly confused wordsTake a look at these two sentences—one of them contains a mistake:

I poured over book after book.We pored over the catalogs.

Are you uncertain which one is right? There are a lot of words in English that look or sound alike but have very differentmeanings, such as pore and pour or flaunt and flout. It’s easy to get them confused and most electronic spellcheckers won’tbe much help in this type of situation: they can tell you if a word has been spelled wrongly but they can’t generally identifythe misuse of a correctly spelled word.

Here’s a quick-reference list of pairs of words that regularly cause people problems.

Word 1 Meaning Word 2 Meaningaccept to agree to receive or

doexcept not including

adverse unfavorable, harmful averse strongly disliking;opposed

advice recommendationsabout what to do

advise to recommendsomething

affect to change or make adifference to

effect a result; to bring abouta result

aisle a passage betweenrows of seats

isle an island

all together all in one place, all at

once

altogether completely; on the

whole

along moving or extendinghorizontally on

a long referring to somethingof great length

aloud out loud allowed permitted

altar a sacred table in achurch

alter to change

amoral not concerned withright or wrong

immoral not following acceptedmoral standards

appraise to assess apprise to inform someone

assent agreement, approval ascent the action of rising or

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Between you and me

Bored by, of, or with?

Can or may?

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May or might?

Onto or on to?

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Shall or will?

Themselves or themself?

Who or whom?

Commonly confusedwords

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3/31/13 2:48 PMCommonly confused words - Oxford Dictionaries Online (US)

Page 2 of 4http://oxforddictionaries.com/us/words/commonly-confused-words-american

climbing up

aural relating to the ears orhearing

oral relating to the mouth;spoken

bare naked; to uncover bear to carry; to put up with

bated in phrase 'with batedbreath' (i.e., in greatsuspense)

baited with bait attached orinserted

bazaar a Middle Easternmarket; a fund-raisingsale

bizarre strange

berth a bunk in a ship, train,etc.

birth the emergence of a babyfrom the womb

born having started life borne carried

bough a branch of a tree bow to bend the head; thefront of a ship

brake a device for stopping avehicle; to stop avehicle

break to separate into pieces;a pause

breach to break through, orbreak a rule; a gap

breech the back part of a gunbarrel

broach to raise a subject fordiscussion

brooch a piece of jewelry

canvas a type of strong cloth canvass to seek people’s votes

capital an uppercase letter;the administrative cityof a state or country

capitol the building that housesa legislature

censure to criticize strongly censor to ban parts of a bookor movie; a person whodoes this

cereal a grass producing anedible grain; a

prepared food madefrom grain

serial happening in a series

chord a group of musicalnotes

cord a length of string; acordlike body part

climactic forming a climax climatic relating to climate

coarse rough course a direction; a schoolsubject; part of a meal

complacent smug and self-satisfied complaisant willing to please

complement to add to so as toimprove; an additionthat improvessomething

compliment to praise or expressapproval; an admiringremark

council a group of people whomanage or advise

counsel advice; to advise

cue a signal for action; awooden rod

queue a line of people; anordered list of computerdocuments ready to beprinted

currant a dried grape; a smallberry

current happening now; a flowof water, air, orelectricity

3/31/13 2:48 PMCommonly confused words - Oxford Dictionaries Online (US)

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electricity

defuse to make a situationless tense

diffuse to spread over a widearea

desert a waterless, emptyarea; to abandonsomeone

dessert the sweet course of ameal

discreet careful not to attractattention

discrete separate and distinct

disinterested impartial uninterested not interested

draw an even score at theend of a game

drawer a sliding storagecompartment

dual having two parts duel a fight or contestbetween two people

elicit to draw out a reply orreaction

illicit not allowed by law orrules

ensure to make certain thatsomething will happen

insure to providecompensation if aperson dies or propertyis damaged

envelop to cover or surround envelope a paper container for aletter

exercise physical activity; to dophysical activity

exorcise to drive out an evilspirit

fawn a young deer; lightbrown

faun a mythical being, partman, part goat

flaunt to displayostentatiously

flout to disregard a rule

flounder to move clumsily; tohave difficulty doingsomething

founder to fail

forbear to refrain forebear an ancestor

foreword an introduction to abook

forward onward, ahead

freeze to turn to ice frieze a decoration along awall

grisly gruesome, revolting grizzly a type of bear

hoard a stock of things; tostore away valuables

horde a large crowd of people

imply to suggest indirectly infer to draw a conclusion

loath reluctant, unwilling loathe to hate

loose to unfasten; to set free lose to be deprived of; to beunable to find

militate to be a powerful factoragainst

mitigate to make less severe

palate the roof of the mouth palette a board for mixingcolors

pedal a foot-operated lever peddle to sell goods

pole a long, slender piece ofwood

poll to record people's votesor opinions

pour to flow or cause to flow pore a tiny opening; to studysomething closely

prescribe to authorize use of proscribe to officially forbid

3/31/13 2:48 PMCommonly confused words - Oxford Dictionaries Online (US)

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prescribe to authorize use ofmedicine; to orderauthoritatively

proscribe to officially forbidsomething

principal most important; thehead of a school

principle a fundamental rule orbelief

sight the ability to see site a location

stationary not moving stationery writing materials

titillate to arouse interest titivate to make more attractive

tortuous full of twists; complex torturous full of pain or suffering

wreath a ring-shapedarrangement of

flowers or greenery

wreathe to surround or encircle

yoke a wooden crosspiecefor harnessing a pairof oxen

yolk the yellow center of anegg

See also

Like

Themselves or themself?

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