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Word List No. 1
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• adapt (adjust to); adept (skilled); adopt (take as one's own)
• advice (guidance); advise (to give guidance)
• aerie (nest); airy (breezy); eerie (spooky)
• aid (help); aide (assistant)
• aisle (passage); isle (island); I'll (you're really in the wrong field if you confuse this one)
• alley (passageway); ally (friend)
• all ready (prepared); already (previously)
• allusion (indirect reference); illusion (misperception)
• Apparent usually means obvious; avoid using it to mean likely or probably, as in apparent heart attack. (See doubtful.)
• appraise (to set a value on); apprise (to inform)
• arc (curve); ark (boat)
• ascent (upward slope); assent (agreement)
• assay (to analyze); essay (to attempt)
• bring (carry toward); take (carry away)
• auger (a tool); augur (to predict)
• bail (money; to empty); bale (bundle)
• breach (violation); breech (buttocks)
• bazaar (marketplace); bizarre (weird)
• bloc (coalition or common group); block (all other meanings)
• born (came to life); borne (carried)
• borough (town); burro (donkey); burrow (hole)
• bouillon (soup); bullion (metal)
• braise (to cook); braze (to solder)
• broach (to begin); brooch (pin)
• cannon (gun); canon (law)
• caster (wheel); castor (oil)
• censor (examiner); censer (vessel); censure (blame) |
Word List No. 2
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• chaste (what the pure are); chased (what the impure are)
• chic (stylish); sheik (leader)
• cite (to quote); site (location); sight (see, view, spectacle)
• confident (assured); confidant (friend)
• degree: A level attained; one earns a degree but receives a diploma. It's wrong, therefore, to call a degree his or hers, because degree ownership doesn't pass to holders.
• deprivation (loss); depravation (corruption)
• desperate (hopeless); disparate (distinctly dissimilar)
• destroy means eliminate or demolish. "Completely destroy" is therefore an unnecessary, superfluous redundancy.
• dilemma (a choice between two equally bad options); Hobson’s choice (forced choice where no real alternative exists)
• disperse (scatter); disburse (pay)
• doubtful usually means skeptical or suspicious; avoid using it to mean unlikely or uncertain, as in doubtful starter. (See sportuguese.)
• dual (double); duel (fight)
• ecology (relationships between organisms and their environment); environment (all conditions surrounding an organism)
• either (one or the other); each (every one of a group). Either is commonly misused when the writer means each or both. WRONG: Sentries stood on either side of the gate.
• elicit (draw out); illicit (illegal)
• elude (to avoid); allude (indirectly refer to)
• epic (long narrative poem); epoch (start of an era)
• exceed (surpass); accede (agree)
• excess (surplus); access (entrance)
• extant (existing); extent (size)
• faint (dim, dizzy, weak); feint (pretense, false movement)
• fair (just, lovely, market); fare (charge, get along, menu)
• faze (disconcert); phase (stage) |
Word List No. 3
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• feign (pretend); fain (gladly)
• fete (to honor); feat (deed, exploit)
• fir (tree); fur (animal pelt)
• fl air (knack); flare (torch)
• flea (insect); flee (run away)
• floe (ice mass); flow (run freely)
• flu (influenza); flue (pipe); flew (took wing)
• forbear (refrain); forebear (ancestor)
• formally (in a formal manner); formerly (once)
• forth (forward); fourth (ordinal number)
• forward (in front, impudent, progressive); foreword (introductory note in a book)
• foul (offensive); fowl (bird)
• frank (candid); franc (money)
• freeze (make cold); frieze (ornament)
• friar (priest); fryer (chicken)
• gaff (hook); gaffe (error)
• gait (motion); gate (opening)
• gauge (scale, measuring device); gage (pledge)
• gel (jelly); jell (harden, set)
• genius (gifted person); genus (classification)
• gild (cover with gold); guild (association)
• gilt (gilded); guilt (culpability)
• gist (essence); jest (joke)
• glacier (ice); glazier (glassworker)
• gnaw (chew); naw ("no way," in Dixie .)
• gorilla (primate); guerrilla (soldier)
• groan (moan); grown (adult)
• guarantee (to secure); guaranty (a pledge)
• hair (what grows from a follicle); hare (rabbit)
• handsome (good looking); hansom (carriage) |
Word List No. 4
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• hanger (one who hangs); hangar ( air plane shed)
• harrier (hawk, hound); hairier (more hairy)
• hart (deer); heart (blood pump)
• hay (grass); hey (attention getter)
• hew (to cut); hue (color)
• hoard (cache); horde (throng)
• holy (sacred); wholly (entirely); holey (full of holes)
• hoop (circle); whoop (cry)
• hostile (antagonistic); hostel (lodging)
• humorous (funny); humerus (bone)
• hurdle (jump); hurtle (throw)
• hypocritical (insincere); hypercritical (overly critical)
• idle (not busy); idol (image); idyll (poem)
• incite (to provoke action); insight (understanding)
• incredible (not believable); incredulous (skeptical)
• inequity (lacks fair ness); iniquity (sin)
• ingenious (clever); ingenuous (naive)
• interstate (between states); intrastate (within a state)
• jam (fruit preserves, wedge tight); jamb (door post)
• jealousy (envy); jalousie (shutter)
• judicial (of the law); judicious (wise)
• kill (slay); kiln (oven)
• knave (rogue); nave (part of a church)
• knead (mix); need (require); kneed (a groin injury)
• knit (interlock); nit (insect egg)
• lamb (young sheep); lam (gangland slang for escape)
• lay (to place, secular); lei (garland)
• lea (meadow); lee (shelter)
• lead (to show the way; a soft metal; spacing between lines of type); led (showed the way)
• leak (escape); leek (vegetable)
• lean (thin, incline); lien (claim) |
Word List No. 5
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• leech (bloodsucker); leach (dissolve or percolate away)
• lesser (smaller); lessor (landlord)
• levy (tax); levee (embankment)
• liable (obligated); libel (defamation)
• liken (compare); lichen (moss-like plant)
• links (golf course); lynx (feline)
• literal (verbatim); littoral (shore)
• llama (animal); lama (monk)
• load (weight); lode (vein of ore)
• loan (to lend); lone (solitary)
• loop (turn); loupe (magnifying glass)
• lute (musical instrument); loot (slang for spoils)
• mackintosh (jacket); McIntosh (surname); Macintosh (computer)
• magnet (metal attracter); magnate (influential person)
• magnificent (splendid); munificent (generous)
• mall (promenade); maul (damage)
• mannequin (model); manikin (dwarf)
• manner (behavior); manor (estate)
• mantel (shelf); mantle (cloak)
• marshal (officer, place in order); martial (relating to war); Marshall (proper name);marital (pertaining to marriage)
• martin (bird); marten (four-legged animal); Martian (something from Mars)
• mask (covering); masque (drama)
• material (substance); materiel (equipment)
• maze (labyrinth); maize (corn)
• mean (signify, low, average); mien (demeanor)
• meat (food); meet (to come upon, fitting); mete (dole)
• medal (award); meddle (interfere)
• median (midpoint); average (arithmetic mean); normal (usual)
• metal (element); mettle (spirit); meddle (intrude in other people’s affairs)
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Word List No. 6
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• mews (street, cat sounds); muse (ponder)
• might (power, could); mite (tiny amount)
• mill (1/10 cent; grinder); mil (unit of length or thickness)
• millinery (hats); millinary (thousand)
• miner (one who mines); minor (lesser; under legal age)
• minimal means least possible; don't use it to mean unlikely.
• moan (groan); mown (mowed)
• moat (ditch); mote (speck)
• moose (animal); mousse (dessert)
• morn (poetic license for morning); mourn (grieve)
• mule (animal; slipper); mewl (cry)
• mutton (sheep meat); mouton (sheepskin)
• muscle (strength); mussel (shellfish); muzzle (restrain, nose)
• nay (no); neigh (whinny)
• oar means a paddle used for rowing a boat; it's a noun, never a verb.
• offal is waste matter, usually fecal (and though it's “awful,” it's not spelled that way).
• official (authorized); officious (bossy)
• oracle (seer); auricle (part of the ear)
• oscillate (swing back and forth); osculate (kiss)
• ought (should); aught (zero)
• overdo (exaggerate); overdue (late)
• overseas (abroad); oversees (supervises)
• pail (bucket); pale (blanch)
• pain (suffering); pane (glass)
• pair (two); pear (fruit); pare (peel)
• palate (roof of mouth); palette (paint board); pallet (bed)
• pall (coffin cover, grow dull, gloom); pawl (hinged device)
• parameter (limit); perimeter (boundary)
• parish (church); perish (die)
• peak (summit); peek (look); pique (resentment; provoke; spur)
• peal (ring); peel (pare)
• pearl (gem); purl (knit) |
Word List No. 7
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• pedal (foot lever); peddle (sell)
• peer (look, equal, nobleman); pier (wharf)
• peon (worker); paean (song of praise)
• peremptory (not open to debate, ordered without discussion as in a court of law); pre-emptory (the act of obtaining by force or show of strength as in a contest or war)
• perquisite (benefit, hence the slang perks); prerequisite (prior requirement)
• persecute (harass); prosecute (to try by law)
• personal (private); personnel (employees)
• perspective (view); prospective (likely or expected)
• petty (small); petit (lesser, as in petit larceny); petite (small)
• physic (cathartic); physique (build); psychic (mental)
• pica (12 points); pika (animal)
• pinion (gear wheel); piñon (tree)
• place (set); plaice (fish)
• plate (dish); plait (bread)
• plum (fruit); plumb (weight)
• pole (rod); poll (canvass)
• policy (plan); polity (government)
• populace (the people); populous (thickly populated)
• popular (well liked); poplar (tree)
• poultry (fowl); paltry (petty)
• pour (flow); pore (to study, skin opening)
• pray (implore); prey (victim, attack)
• precede (to go before); proceed (to continue)
• prescribe (to order); proscribe (to forbid)
• presentment (legal presentation); presentiment (premonition)
• profit (gain); prophet (seer)
• prophecy (prediction); prophesy (to predict)
• propose (to suggest); purpose (reason)
• prone (lying face down); supine (lying face up)
• prostrate (submissive, cowed); prostate (male urinary gland)
• put (to place); putt (golf stroke)
• queue (line); cue (signal)
• quire (a great "Scrabble" word [and the only time you'll probably use it] meaning 24 sheets of paper); choir (singing group)
• rack (framework); wrack (ruin)
• rain (precipitation); reign (rule); rein (restraint) |
Word List No. 8
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• raise (lift); raze (demolish)
• rap (knock); wrap (enfold); rapt (engrossed)
• read (peruse); reed (plant, musical instrument)
• real (actual); reel (spool)
• reality (actuality); realty (property)
• reek (smell); wreak (punish)
• register (record); registrar (record keeper)
• reluctant (loathe to act); reticent (loathe to speak)
• rest (remainder, quiet); wrest (to gain by force)
• retch (to vomit); wretch (miserable person)
• review (re-examine); revue (musical show)
• riffle (shuffle); rifle (gun, groove, search)
• rigor (severity); rigger (one who rigs)
• ring (circle, sound); wring (squeeze)
• rite (ceremony); right (correct); write
• road (way); rode (didn't walk); rowed (didn't swim)
• roe (fish eggs); rho (Greek letter); row (propel a boat)
• room (space); rheum (mucous discharge)
• root (plant part, cheer); route (planned way)
• rote (repetition); wrote (put down on paper)
• rough (not smooth); ruff (collar)
• royal (regal); roil (to cloud)
• rude (impolite); rood (crucifix); rued (regretted)
• ruin (destroy); rune (character; magic charm)
• rung (step); wrung (squeezed)
• rye (grain); wry (crooked)
• sachet (perfume); sashay (strut)
• sail (canvas); sale (exchange)
• sanitorium (hospital); sanitarium (health resort)
• scene (view, play subdivision); seen (watched)
• scull (oar); skull (head bone)
• seam (junction); seem (appear)
• seaman (sailor); semen (sperm)
• sear (to dry up); seer (prophet); sere (withered)
• seed (plant ovule); cede (yield)
• seine (net); sane (mentally balanced)
• seller (vender); cellar (basement)
• serf (laborer); surf (waves)
• serge (cloth); surge (to billow)
• session (meeting); cession (surrendering)
• shanty (shack); chantey (song sung by sailors)
• shear (to clip); sheer (swerve, diaphanous, perpendicular) |
Word List No. 9
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• shoe (foot covering); shoo (get away)
• sick (ill); sic (thus)
• sign (indication, write name); sine (mathematical function)
• signet (seal); cygnet (swan)
• slay (kill ); sleigh (snow vehicle)
• slight (small); sleight (dexterity)
• slow (not fast); sloe (a wild plum berry, hence sloe gin)
• soar (fly); sore (painful)
• sole (single, fish); soul (spirit); sol (sun)
• some (a few); sum (add)
• spore (plant reproductive organ); spoor (track of an animal)
• step (walk); steppe (plain)
• straight (direct); strait (narrow water, distress)
• style (design); stile (steps over a fence); sty (pig pen)
• suit (clothes, cards, law case); suite (set, retinue)
• summary (condensation); summery (like summer)
• sword (weapon); sward (turf); soared (flew)
• symbol (sign); cymbal (gong)
• tacit (implied); tacet (musical direction)
• tail (hind part); tale (recital)
• talisman (charm); talesman (juror)
• taper (candle, diminish); tapir (animal)
• tasty (flavorful); tasteful (in good taste)
• taught (past tense of teach); taut (tight)
• taupe (brownish gray); tope (to drink)
• tea (beverage); tee (golfing device)
• team (group); teem (to swarm)
• tear (split); tare (weight, weed); tier (row)
• threw (tossed); through (by way of)
• throw (toss); throe (pang)
• thrown (has been tossed); throne (regal chair )
• time (to clock); thyme (seasoning)
• ton (weight); tun (vat)
• tool (implement); tulle (fabric net)
• tortuous (winding); torturous (painful)
• tough (strong); tuff (rock)
• toxin (poison); tocsin (alarm)
• track (path); tract (pamphlet)
• tray (receptacle); trey (three)
• troop (soldiers); troupe (actors)
• trustee (guardian); trusty (dependable)
• turban (headdress); turbine (engine)
• turn (rotate); tern (bird)
• undo (reverse); undue (excessive)
• up/upped. A wonderful new verb (sarcasm intended), as in, “I upped my income. Up yours.” |
Word List No. 10
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• urn (vase); earn (merit)
• vain (futile, conceited); vane (wind indicator); vein (blood vessel)
• valance (drapery); valence (capacity to combine)
• vale (valley); veil (cloth)
• veracious (truthful); voracious (ravenous)
• waive (give up); wave (flutter)
• wet (damp, dampen); whet (sharpen)
• vial (container); vile (wretched); viol (any of a family of stringed instruments)
• vice (evil, substitute); vise (clamp)
• vicious (malicious); viscous (thick); viscus (singular of viscera)
• villain (scoundrel); villein (serf)
• virtue (goodness); virtu (fine arts)
• wail (cry); wale (ridge)
• wane (decrease); wain (wagon)
• want (lack); wont (custom)
• wean (to end suckling); ween (to think)
• wear (have on); ware (articles)
• weather (climate); wether (sheep); whether (indecision — implies “or not”)
• whither (where); wither (dry up)
• Win. Acceptable as a noun in headlines, but use victory in body copy. Never use win as the opposite of loss, as in win-loss record; instead, say won-lost.
• worst (most inferior); wurst (sausage)
• yew (shrub); ewe (female sheep); you (personal pronoun)
• yoke (join); yolk (yellow of an egg) |
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