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| accept, v. | to willingly receive or agree with |
| except, prep., conj., v. | not included, singled out (e.g., the actors were good except one), to exclude |
| access, v., adj. | to reach; reachable (e.g., access panel in the wall), from accessible |
| assess, v. | to evaluate, judge or take stock |
| affect, v. | to change, to have an impact |
| effect, n., v. | result, to produce a result (e.g., effected the improvement) |
| airing, v. | to air (out) as in a blanket or complaint |
| erring, v. | to make a mistake or error, from to err |
| allusive, adj. | in reference to, from "allude" |
| elusive, adj. | hard to grasp, from "elude" |
| illusive, adj. | something that illustrates |
| altar, n. | a raised platform as in a church |
| alter, v. | to modify |
| "another think coming" | need to reconsider |
| "another thing coming" | probably incorrect or at best a variant for "another think coming" |
| apostrophe usage | correctly used for contractions (e.g., you're) or to indicate possession (e.g., Jane's car); other uses are controversial -- as in with numbers, dates, lists, etc. |
| aspiration, n., v. | goal, or act of inhaling (e.g., he aspirated the vomit) |
| inspirations, n., v. | from inspire; something which motivates, or, rarely, to breathe in |
| baited, adj., v. | a trap or hook with bait; or past tense of to bait (attracting an animal or targeted person) |
| bated, adj. | held back, as in bated breath, from to abate |
| born, v. | to give birth, to arise from |
| borne, v. | to carry, to endure |
| breath, n. | the air drawn into or exhaled from lungs |
| breathe, v. | to draw in or exhale air |
| casual, adj. | informal (e.g., casual clothing for the picnic) |
| causal, adj. | causing (e.g., rain was a causal factor in the accident) |
| chock, v. | British, to strangle |
| choke, v. | to strangle |
| cite, v. | to reference (he cited the quotation's source) or to give a citation (the cop cited him for double-parking) |
| sight, n. | vision (e.g., he lost his sight in the explosion) or an image (e.g., she was quite a sight after the party) |
| site, n. | location (e.g., the building site) |
| cloth, n. | fabric |
| clothe, v. | to dress |
| compliment, v. or n. | to favorably comment; a favorable comment |
| complement, v. or n. | to enhance or fit (the jewelry complements the outfit); or, portion (the full complement of soldiers); the thing which enhances or fits or is a portion |
| credible, adj. | believable (a credible story) |
| creditable, adj. | worthy of receiving credit (a creditable theory) (near-synonymous with credible) |
| definite, adj. | certain |
| defiant, adj. | resistant, rebellious |
| defuse, v. | to remove the fuse from (e.g., from explosives or, metaphorically, a tense situation) |
| diffuse, v. or adj. | to scatter, dilute; scattered, diluted; often misused in place of "defuse" |
| dessert, n. | last dish of a meal, usually sweet |
| desert, n. | arid land |
| faze, adj. | taken aback, brought up short (e.g., he wasn't fazed by her objection) |
| phase, n. | one step of a multi-step process (e.g., the first phase of the moon shot) |
| flair, adj. | style or talent (e.g., she had a flair for decorating) |
| flare, v. | to suddenly brighten or heat up (e.g., the fire flared when he poured on gasoline) |
|
founder, v. and n. |
to sink, as in a ship; the creator of something (e.g., the founder of the business) |
| flounder, n., v. | a type of fish (but also the widely-used bastardized version of founder meaning sink); to splash, thrash, struggle |
| grisly, adj. | ghastly |
| grizzly, adj. | type of brown bear; grayish (from grizzled) |
| hare-brained, adj. | foolish, silly, reckless (as in an idea thought up by a rabbit or hare) |
| hair-brained, adj. | incorrect for "hare-brained" |
| herd, n., v. | mass of animals; to move a group of animals (e.g., to herd cows) |
| heard, v. | past tense of to hear |
| "hide nor hair," n. | not even a glimpse of something (e.g., not seeing a glimpse of skin or fur) |
| "hide nor hare", n. | incorrect for "hide nor hair" |
| hoard, v. | to obsessively gather and amass |
| horde, n. | large disorganized number, as in an unruly mob of marauders |
| "home in", v. | to locate (e.g., the GPS signal let them home in on the target) |
| "hone in", v. | incorrect for "home in" (to hone is to sharpen a knife blade) |
| imply, v. | to intentionally give an impression (e.g., he implied she was guilty) |
| infer, v. | to reach a conclusion from given information (e.g., he inferred she was guilty from the cop's hint) |
| "intents and purposes" | for all aims and goals |
| "intense and purposes" | incorrect for "intents and purposes" |
| it's | contraction for "it is" or "it has" |
| its | possessive of it (e.g., its tire was flat) |
| lay, v. | to put down (e.g., lay it down there); also, past tense of lie (e.g., yesterday he lay down for a nap at noon) |
| laid, v. | past tense of to lay (e.g., he laid the book down earlier); informal, to receive sex (e.g., he got laid) |
| lie, v., n. | to recline (e.g., I will lie down), to tell an un-truth or the un-truth itself |
| let's | contraction for "let us" |
| lets, v. | to allow, give permission (e.g., he lets his dog run free) |
| load, n. or v. | burden, mass of something; or to fill (e.g., load a truck) |
| lode, n. | vein of valuable mineral (e.g., mother-lode of gold) |
| loath, adj. | disinclined, unwilling, reluctant (e.g., I am loath to go) |
| loathe, v. | to detest (e.g., I loathe politicians) |
| loose, adj., v. | untied group (e.g. loose coins), euphemism for promiscuous (e.g., a loose woman), or to set free (e.g., he loosed the dogs of war) |
| lose, v. | to fail to win, fail to keep |
| nauseated, adj. | a person who is queasy (e.g., he was nauseated by the murder scene) |
| nauseous, adj. | disgusting, something that induces queasiness (e.g., the nauseous sight) |
| "pastime", n. | a hobby, a way to spend time (e.g., jigsaw puzzles were a favorite pastime) |
| "past time", n. | a period already over; often incorrect for "pastime" |
| passed, v. | to move beyond something (e.g., a car passed a truck), or to die (e.g., he passed away) |
| past, n. | a time not in the present or future |
| peak, n. | top, tip, pinnacle (e.g., of a mountain or experience) |
| peek, v. | to glimpse (e.g., he peeked around the corner) |
| pique, n. | annoyance (e.g., his pique at being tricked was boundless) |
| "per se" | Latin, in itself, intrinsically |
| "per say" | incorrect for "per se" |
| pore, poring, v. | to examine closely (e.g., he pored over the diary) |
| pour, pouring, v. | to empty a container of a liquid or granular solid |
| quash, v. | to subdue, strike down, disparage (e.g., he quashed the silly suggestion) |
| squash, v. | to compress (e.g., the cushion was squashed by the heavy weight); often used incorrectly for "quash" |
| quiet, adj. | not loud, silent, motionless |
| quite, adv. | very, completely |
| rain, n. | water droplets falling from clouds |
| reign, n. | a royal person's period on the throne (e.g., the reign of Queen Elizabeth) |
| rein, n, or v. | the leather straps connected to a horse's bridle, or to curb (e.g., he reined in the impulsive rookie) |
| sank, v. | past tense of sink (this past tense has been widely abandoned) |
| sunk, v. | past perfect tense of sink (e.g., we have sunk the enemy's fleet); widely misused instead of sank for past tense of sink (incorrect examples: "he sunk the proposal" or "he sunk down on the couch") |
| scene, n. | setting |
| seen, v. | past perfect tense of see (e.g., I have seen the future) |
| shone, v. | past tense of to shine (e.g., the sun shone brightly) |
| shown, v. | past perfect tense of verb to show (e.g., I have shown him how to do it) |
| shudder, v. | to tremble |
| shutter, v. | to close off with shutters, as in a window or (metaphorically) an expression |
| straight, adj. | not curved, not misleading; heterosexual |
| strait, n. | a narrow passage (e.g., the Strait of Gibraltar), a challenging situation to navigate |
| taught, v. | past tense of to teach |
| taunt, v. | to tease or ridicule (often used incorrectly for "taut") |
| taut, adj. | tense/filled with tension, as in a rope or moment |
| there, adj. | indicating location |
| their, pron. | possessive pronoun |
| they're | contraction of "they are" |
| throes, n. | extreme emotional state (e.g., he was in the throes of grief) |
| throws, v. | to toss (e.g., he throws the ball to the catcher) |
| to, prep. | connect with (e.g., bring it to me) |
| too, adj. | very (e.g., it was too bright) or also (e.g., she came too) |
| two, n. | the integer after one |
| "toe the line", v. | phrase meaning to abide by a rule (from racers lining up at a starting line) |
| "tow the line", v. | to pull with a rope; often incorrect for "toe the line" |
| tortuous, adj. | winding, twisting (e.g., the tortuous mountain roads) |
| torturous, adj. | like torture (e.g., the painful medical procedure was torturous) |
| who's | contraction of "who is" |
| whose | possessive of who (e.g., whose car is that?) |
| you're | contraction of "you are" |
| your | possessive of you (e.g., it is your car) |