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100 Words
100 Words Almost Everyone Mixes Up or Mangles

At one time or another we’ve all suffered the embarrassment of having our remarks corrected by a family member, friend, colleague, or stranger. 100 Words Almost Everyone Mixes Up or Mangles presents fifty pairs of words that people have trouble getting right and keeping straight — words that tend to get corrected when we’re least expecting it.

These words include near-synonyms, which are words with subtle but important distinctions in meaning, like baleful and baneful, and effectual and efficacious. Other pairings bring together notorious sound-alikes, like faze (bother) and phase (stage), pour (put in fluid) and pore (read closely), and waive (forgo) and wave (say hello). 100 Words Almost Everyone Mixes Up or Mangles also addresses some classic spelling blunders and “nonwords” that are often overlooked but should be treated with suspicion, such as beyond the pail, free reign, injust, and run the gambit.

Each word is followed by its definition and pronunciation, and most have etymologies explaining the word’s origin. The mix-ups themselves are described in engaging notes that provide clear solutions to help readers avoid making needless, uncomfortable gaffes in the future.

100 Words Almost Everyone Mixes Up or Mangles gives readers the opportunity to improve their conversation and their command of words and phrases that are often heard but rarely well expressed.


Here is a complete list of the words in 100 Words Almost Everyone Mixes Up or Mangles:


adherence
adhesion
adopted
adoptive
amend
baleful
baneful
beyond the pale
cache
cachet
condemn
congenital
contemn
contemptible
contemptuous
delegate
deprecate
depreciate
distinct
distinctive
emend
energize
enervate
exceptionable
exceptional
expedient
expeditious
faze
flounder
founder
free rein
gambit
gamut
gibe
gotten
gybe
historic
historical
hoard
horde
injustice
jibe1
jibe2
jibe3
jive
lend
load
loan
lode
majority
masterful
masterly
militate
mitigate
no holds barred
old
older
ordinance
ordnance
passed
past
peace
peremptory
phase
piece
plurality
pore
pour
practicable
practical
preemptive
rationale
rationalization
relegate
repress
restive
restless
shined
shone
sleight of hand
slew1
slew2
slew3
slough1
slough2
slue
suppress
tenant
tenet
throe
toe the line
unexceptionable
unexceptional
unjust
venal
venial
waive
wangle
wave
wrangle


Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.