English is a worldwide language. Between 1.5 billion and 2 billion people across the planet speak English. Between 375,000 and 400,000 people are native English speakers. In view of these statistics, many consider the English language to be a world language. Since the English language has become so widespread, it is no surprise that different varieties of English have arisen.
There are many varieties of English spoken in the world. The oldest variety of English is British English, spoken in the United Kingdom. Approximately 60 million people are native British English speakers. The variety of English with the largest number of native speakers is American English, with 225 million native speakers. The other major varieties of English are Canadian English, Australian English, New Zealand English, South African English and Indian English. Some linguists also recognize another classification of a variety of English known as World English. All varieties of English share the same basic tenets of the language, but certain words, phrases or linguistic constructs may differ. For instance, in British English, one says I’m going to hospital. In American English one says I’m going to the hospital. In British English one may say he is going to the cinema, in American English one says he is going to the movies, and in South African English, the phrase is going to the bioscope.
Varieties of English may be further divided into dialects such as Anglo-Cornish or Welsh English in Great Britain, Gallah or Gulf Southern in the United States and Bengali English and Southern Indian English in India. Whatever the variety or dialect, English speakers the world over may communicate with each other, with only occasional gaps in understanding.
A
- Abandon vs. abandonment
- Abbreviations, acronyms, and initialisms
- Abdicate, abnegate, abrogate
- Abecedarius
- Aberrant
- Abetter vs. abettor
- Abhorrent vs aberrant
- Abided vs. abode
- Ability vs. capability vs. capacity
- Abject or object
- Abject vs object
- Abjure vs. adjure
- Abolishment vs. abolition
- Aborted vs. abortive
- About-face
- Above board, above-board or aboveboard
- Above one’s pay grade
- Abracadabra
- Abridgment and abridgement
- Absolve vs resolve
- Absorption vs. adsorption
- Abstracter vs. abstractor
- Abstruse vs. obtuse
- Abuse vs abuse
- Accell
- Accent vs accentuate
- Acceptance vs. acceptation
- Accept vs except
- Access
- Accessorize vs accessorise
- Accessory vs accessary
- Access vs excess
- Accidental vs incidental
- Accidental vs occidental
- Acclimate, acclimatise, acclimatize
- Acclimation vs acclamation
- According to Hoyle and according to Cocker
- Accord vs. accordance
- Accost
- Accoutrement
- Acephalous
- Ace in the hole
- Achilles’ heel
- Acid test vs litmus test
- Acknowledgement Vs Acknowledgment
- Acme vs acne
- Acquaintanceship
- Acronym vs anacronym
- Across the board
- Actions speak louder than words
- Active voice vs. passive voice
- Actualise vs actualize
- Acute vs chronic
- Adamance
- Adam’s apple
- Adam’s off ox
- Adaptable or adaptive
- Adapter vs. adaptor
- Adaption vs. adaptation
- Adapt vs adopt
- Addenda vs. Addendums
- Addicting vs. addictive
- Addiction vs. dependence
- Addition vs. edition
- Addlepated, addlebrained and addleheaded
- Adduce vs educe
- Add fuel to the fire
- Add insult to injury
- Adjective Definition, Usage & List of Examples
- Adjudicate
- Administrate
- Admission vs. admittance
- Adolescence vs adolescents
- Adopted vs. adoptive
- Ads, adds or adze
- Adulting
- Advance vs. advanced
- Advent
- Adventurous vs adventuresome
- Adverbs
- Adverse vs. averse
- Advertise vs advertize
- Advert vs. avert
- Advice vs. advise
- Adviser Vs Advisor – Which Is Correct?
- Ad hoc
- Ad Hominem Fallacy Examples and Definition
- Ad infinitum
- Ad nauseam
- Ad vs. add
- Ad-lib and ad lib
- Aegis
- Aeon vs. eon
- Aerie vs airy
- Aerobic vs anaerobic
- Aeroplane vs. airplane
- Aesthetic vs. ascetic
- Aether vs. ether
- Aetiology or etiology
- Affective vs. effective
- Affect vs Effect
- Affinity vs infinity
- Afflict vs. inflict
- Affluent vs. effluent
- Affluenza
- African-American vs. black
- Afterward vs. afterwards
- Afterward vs. afterword
- Agape vs agape
- Ageing vs. Aging – Which is Correct?
- Agent and recipient nouns
- Ages (hyphenation)
- Aggrandize
- Aggravate
- Aggravate vs aggregate
- Aggravate vs mitigate
- Aggression vs. aggressiveness
- Agitprop
- Agnostic vs. atheist
- Agog or agape
- Agree
- Agreement Vs Agreeance – Which Is Correct?
- Ahead of the curve vs ahead of the curb
- Ahold
- Aid vs. aide
- Ailment vs aliment
- Ail vs ale
- Ain’t
- Air quotes
- Air vs err
- Air vs heir
- Aisle vs. isle
- Ajar
- Akimbo
- Alas
- Albeit
- Alcoholism vs dipsomania
- Algorithm vs logarithm
- Alight
- Alimentary vs elementary
- Allegation vs accusation
- Alleviate vs elevate
- Alley vs ally
- Alligator vs. crocodile
- Alliterate, literate or illiterate
- Alliteration vs assonance
- Allude vs elude
- Allude vs. elude
- Allusion vs. elusion vs. illusion
- Allusive, elusive or illusive
- All American or all-American
- All bark and no bite
- All but
- All but vs anything but vs everything but
- All dressed up and no place to go
- All get-out
- All good things must come to an end
- All hands on deck
- All in all
- All of a sudden or all of the sudden
- All right vs. alright
- All roads lead to Rome
- All sizzle and no steak
- All systems go
- All that
- All that glitters is not gold
- All thumbs and all fingers and thumbs
- All together vs. altogether
- All’s fair in love and war
- All’s well that ends well
- All-around, all-round
- Alma mater
- Aloud vs allowed
- Alphabetic vs. alphabetical
- Already vs. all ready
- Also-ran
- Altar vs. alter
- Alternately vs alternatively
- Alternate vs alternate
- Alternate vs. alternative
- Alter ego
- Although vs. though
- Aluminium vs. aluminum
- Alumna, alumnae, alumni, alumnus
- Alum vs alum
- Always a bridesmaid, never a bride
- Always vs all ways
- Amalgam vs. amalgamation
- Amative or amatory
- Amazeballs
- AMBER alert
- Amber vs ember
- Ambiance vs. ambience
- Ambiguous vs ambivalent
- Ambulance chaser
- Ameliorate vs alleviate
- Amends vs amends
- Amend vs. emend
- Amen corner
- America
- American
- American Indian vs Native American
- Amiable vs amicable
- Amiable vs. amicable
- Amok vs. amuck
- Among vs. amongst
- Among vs. between
- Amoral vs. immoral
- Amount vs. number
- Ampersand
- Amphitheater vs amphitheatre
- Ample
- Amuse vs. bemuse
- Anachronism
- Analogue vs. analogy
- Analogy vs allegory
- Analog vs. analogue
- Analyses vs analyzes
- Analyse vs. analyze
- Anamorphic
- Anapest
- Anathema
- Ancillary vs auxiliary
- And yet
- Anecdote vs antidote
- Anemic or anaemic
- Anesthesia vs anaesthesia
- Angel vs angle
- Animal adjectives
- Animal collective nouns
- Animate vs adamant
- Annal vs annual
- Annex vs. annexe
- Annual, perennial or biennial
- Annunciation vs enunciation
- Anodyne vs analgesic
- Anomalous vs anonymous
- Another string in your bow
- Another think coming
- Antediluvian
- Antennae vs. antennas
- Ante- vs anti-
- Antichrist
- Antifa
- Antimacassar
- Antlers vs horns
- Antonyms
- Ant vs aunt
- Anyday vs any day
- Anymore or any more
- Anyone or any one
- Anyplace
- Anytime vs. any time
- Anyway vs. anyways
- An albatross around one’s neck
- An apple a day keeps the doctor away
- An arm and a leg
- An Englishman’s home is his castle.
- An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth
- An historic
- An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure
- Apartment and flat
- Apart vs a part
- Ape vs. monkey
- Apiary vs aviary
- Apocryphal vs canonical
- Apologetics
- Apologise vs. apologize
- Apoplectic vs apocalyptic
- Apostle
- Apostrophe Rules and Punctuation Guide With Examples
- Apostrophe (poetry)
- Apotheosis
- Appal vs. appall
- Appeal to authority
- Appellation vs appellative
- Append vs upend
- Appetizer or hors d’oeuvre
- Appetizer vs appetiser
- Apple-pie order
- Apple-polish
- Apposite vs opposite
- Appositives
- Appraise vs. apprise
- Apprehend vs apprehensive
- Apprehend vs comprehend
- Apprehensive vs reprehensive
- Approbation vs approval
- Approbation vs opprobrium
- Appropriate vs appropriate
- Appropriate vs. expropriate
- April Fool’s or April Fools’
- Apropos
- Arbor or arbour
- Arcane and obsolete
- Archaeology vs. archeology
- Arctic, Antarctic
- Arc vs arch
- Arc vs ark
- Ardor or ardour
- Argot vs ergot
- Argumentative vs. argumentive
- Arise or rise
- Armor vs. armour
- Arnold Palmer
- Around the clock, round the clock
- Around vs. round
- Arouse vs. rouse
- Arrant vs. errant
- Arse vs. ass
- Artefact vs. artifact
- Artesian vs artisan
- Articulate vs articulate
- ASAP
- Ascared
- Ascent vs. assent
- Ascent, ascendance, ascendancy, etc.
- Ascribe vs attribute
- Ascribe vs subscribe
- Askew vs eschew
- Asking for a friend
- Ask for the moon
- Ask me no questions and I’ll tell you no lies
- Asleep at the switch and asleep at the wheel
- Aspersion vs dispersion
- Asphalt, cement, concrete, pavement
- Aspiration vs inspiration
- Aspire vs inspire
- Assail vs. assault
- Assent vs. consent
- Assignation or assignment
- Assume vs. presume
- Assure, ensure, insure
- Astride
- Astrology vs astronomy
- Asylum
- As cool as a cucumber
- As crook as Rookwood
- As far as
- As per
- As pleased as Punch
- As right as rain
- As the crow flies
- As thick as thieves
- As yet, as of yet
- Ate vs eight
- Atlas
- Attache
- Attain vs. obtain
- Attic vs addict
- Attribute vs attribute
- At all costs and at any cost
- At a loose end
- At cross purposes
- At loggerheads
- At sixes and seven
- At the drop of a hat
- At the end of one’s rope or at the end of one’s tether
- At the end of the day
- At wits’ end
- Auger vs. augur
- Aught
- August
- August vs august
- Auld lang syne
- Aural vs. oral
- Aureole vs oriole
- Auspicious vs suspicious
- Authorise vs. authorize
- Authoritative vs. authoritive
- Autobiography vs biography
- Autocorrect
- Autotune or Auto-Tune
- Autumn vs. fall
- Auxiliary verbs
- Au contraire
- Au courant
- Au fait
- Au pair
- Avail
- Avant-garde
- Avenge vs. revenge
- Avocation vs. vocation
- Avoid like the plague
- Award vs reward
- Away vs a way
- Awed vs odd
- Awfully
- Awhile vs. a while
- AWOL
- Awry vs wry
- Aw or awe
- Axel vs. axle
- Axes vs axes
- Axiom, adage or epigram
- Axis vs axes
- Ax vs. axe
- Aye vs eye
- A big ask
- A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush
- A cappella
- A cat may look at a king
- A chip off the old block
- A cog in the wheel and a cog in the machine
- A cross to bear
- A day late and a dollar short
- A dime a dozen
- A drop in the bucket
- A far cry from
- A fate worse than death
- A feather in one’s cap
- A fish out of water
- A fool and his money are soon parted
- A friend in need is a friend indeed
- A hold vs ahold
- Ã la carte
- À la mode
- A la (Ã la)
- A leg up
- A leopard can’t change its spots
- A lick and a promise
- A light at the end of the tunnel
- A lot on one’s plate and a full plate
- A lot vs allot
- A lot vs. alot
- A man is known by the company he keeps
- A means to an end
- A method in one’s madness
- A miss is as good as a mile
- A new lease on life
- A or an
- A pat on the back
- A penny saved is a penny earned
- A picture is worth a thousand words
- A piece of work
- A priori
- A rolling stone gathers no moss
- A shot across the bow
- A shot in the arm
- A shot in the dark and a stab in the dark
- A sight for sore eyes
- A slap in the face
- A slap on the wrist
- A snake in the grass
- A stitch in time saves nine
- A stone’s throw
- A taste of one’s own medicine and a dose of one’s own medicine
- A visit from the stork
- A watched pot never boils
- A whole nother
- A.D., B.C., B.C.E., C.E.
- a.m. and p.m.
B
- Babe in the woods
- Baby blues
- Baby boomer
- Bachelor’s or bachelors degree and master’s or masters degree
- Backhanded compliment and left-handed compliment
- Backseat driver
- Backstab
- Backward vs backwards
- Backwater or backwaters
- Backyard, back yard, back-yard
- Back in the day
- Back seat vs. backseat
- Back the wrong horse and bet on the wrong horse
- Back to square one
- Back to the drawing board
- Back up vs. backup
- Bacteria vs virus
- Bad apple
- Bad hair day
- Bad penny
- Bad rap vs. bad wrap
- Bad vs badly
- Bae vs bay
- Bailiwick
- Bailout, bail out, and bail-out
- Bail vs. bale
- Bain-marie vs double boiler
- Bait and switch and switch selling
- Bait vs. bate
- Baker’s dozen
- Balderdash
- Bald, balled or bawled
- Bald-faced vs. boldface
- Ball vs bawl
- Balmy vs. barmy
- Baloney vs. bologna
- Bamboozle
- Band vs banned
- Band (together) vs. bandy (about)
- Bane
- Bankster
- Bank on it and take it to the bank
- Ban vs. bar
- Baptise vs. baptize
- Baptism by fire and baptism of fire
- Barbecue vs. barbeque
- Barbed wire
- Bard
- Bard vs barred
- Bare bones
- Bare vs. bear
- Barking up the wrong tree
- Bark is worse than one’s bite
- Bark vs barque
- Barnstorm
- Barn burner
- Baron vs barren
- Bar mitzvah and bat mitzvah
- Basal, basil, or Basel
- Based vs baste
- Base vs bass
- Basis vs bases
- Basis (on a daily basis, on a regular basis, etc.)
- Basket case
- Bass vs bass
- Bastion
- Bated breath vs baited breath
- Bathos vs pathos
- Bath or bathe
- Baton vs batten
- Batten the hatches
- Batting cleanup
- Battle royal
- Bawdy vs body
- Bawl out
- Bazaar vs. bizarre
- Beachcomber
- Beach vs beech
- Bean counter
- Bear market, bull market, bearish, bullish
- Beat around the bush
- Beat a dead horse and flog a dead horse
- Beat or beaten
- Beat someone to the punch
- Beat swords into plowshares and beat swords into ploughshares
- Beat vs beet
- Beauty is in the eye of the beholder
- Beau vs bow
- Bechdel test and Bechdel-Wallace test
- Beckon call
- Beck and call vs beckon call
- Bed of roses
- Beeline
- Been around the block
- Been there, done that
- Beer vs bier
- Began vs begun
- Beggars can’t be choosers
- Beggar belief
- Begging the question (fallacy)
- Begrudge
- Beg off
- Beg the question (usage)
- Behalf
- Behavior vs. behaviour
- Behest vs bequest
- Behind The Eight Ball – Meaning And Origin
- Behold and beholden
- Behoove
- Belated
- Belay vs belie
- Belie
- Belle vs beau
- Bells and whistles
- Bellwether
- Bellyache
- Bell the cat
- Bell vs belle
- Below the belt and hit below the belt
- Benchmark
- Benedict Arnold
- Benefactor vs patron
- Benefiting vs. Benefitting
- Benefit of the doubt
- Bent or bended
- Bereaved vs. bereft
- Berry vs bury
- Berserk
- Berth vs birth
- Beside oneself and beside the point
- Beside or besides
- Besotted
- Bespeak vs bespoke
- Bespeckled or bespectacled
- Best Free and Paid Plagiarism Checkers
- Best of both worlds
- Best-laid plans
- Bête noire
- Better late than never
- Better safe than sorry
- Better vs bettor
- Between a rock and a hard place
- Betwixt
- Beyond the pale
- Bezel vs embezzle
- Be my guest
- Be patient or have patience
- Biannual vs. biennial
- Biannual, biennial and semiannual
- Biceps and triceps
- Bid, bade, bidden
- Bight vs. bite
- Bigwig
- Big cheese
- Big fish in a small pond
- Big kahuna
- Big league and bush league
- Big shot
- Big-ups
- Billed vs build
- Bill and coo
- Bill of goods
- Bimonthly and semimonthly
- Binded vs. bound
- Bingeing or binging
- Binge-watch
- Bingo
- Birds of a feather flock together
- Bisect vs dissect
- Bisexual or pansexual
- Bite off more than one can chew
- Bite one’s tongue
- Bite the bullet
- Bite, byte or bight
- Bite-size or bite-sized
- Bitter pill to swallow and hard pill to swallow
- Bit vs. bitten
- Bivouac
- Biweekly vs semiweekly
- Blackball
- Blackmail vs extortion
- Black Friday
- Black market
- Black out vs blackout
- Black sheep
- Blah blah blah
- Blandish vs brandish
- Blaspheme
- Blatant vs. flagrant
- Blather vs blabber
- Blather vs. blither
- Blaze a trail
- Blench vs blanch
- Blessed vs. blest
- Blessing in disguise
- Blew, blown, or blowed
- Blind side vs blindside
- Bling
- Blitzkrieg
- Blockbuster
- Bloc vs. block
- Blond vs. blonde
- Blood brother
- Blood is thicker than water
- Blooper
- Bloviate
- Blowhard and windbag
- Blowing up one’s phone
- Blowout vs. blow out
- Blowup vs. blow up
- Blow a fuse and blow a gasket
- Blow hot and cold
- Blow off steam and let off steam
- Blow one’s top, blow one’s stack, blow one’s fuse
- Blow someone’s cover
- Blow the whistle and whistle-blower
- Blow your own trumpet and toot your own horn
- Blow-by-blow account
- Bluetooth
- Blue blood
- Blue collar, white collar
- Board vs bored
- Bobble vs bauble
- Bobbsey twins
- Bob’s your uncle
- Bodega
- Bode vs bowed
- Body politic
- Bogeyman
- Boggle the mind and mind-boggling
- Bohemian
- Bokeh
- Bolder vs boulder
- Boldface text
- Bold as brass
- Bollocks vs bollocking
- Bombogenesis
- Bona fide, bona fides
- Bone of contention
- Bone to pick
- Bone vs debone
- Bonhomie
- Bon vivant
- Booby hatch
- Boondocks vs boonies
- Boondoggle
- Boots on the ground
- Boot camp
- Booze vs boos
- Border vs boarder
- Bore, boor, boar
- Borne vs. born
- Born with a silver spoon in one’s mouth
- Borough, burro, burrow
- Botanic vs. botanical
- Bottom line
- Bot vs bought
- Boughten
- Bought the farm and gone for a Burton
- Bough or bow
- Bound vs. bounded
- Bounteous vs bountiful
- Bourgeois, bourgeoisie
- Bowdlerize
- Bowled vs bold
- Bowl over
- Bowl vs boll
- Bowl vs bowel
- Bow and scrape
- Bow vs bow
- Boy vs buoy
- Braggadocio
- Braggart vs bragger
- Braid vs abrade
- Braid vs brayed
- Brainchild
- Brainwash
- Brain trust vs think tank
- Braise, brays, or braze
- Brake vs break
- Brandish vs brand
- Brand spanking new
- Bravado
- Breach, breech, broach
- Breadcrumbs, breadcrumb trail and trail of breadcrumbs
- Bread and butter
- Bread vs bred
- Break a leg
- Break the bank
- Break the ice
- Break up vs. breakup
- Breastfeeding, breastfed, breastfeed, etc.
- Breath vs. breadth (vs. width)
- Breath vs. breathe
- Breeches vs britches
- Brewed vs brood
- Brews vs bruise
- Brexit and Grexit
- Brickbat
- Brick and mortar
- Bric-a-brac and knick-knack
- Bridezilla
- Bridle vs. bridal
- Brief vs debrief
- Bright vs. brite
- Bring home the bacon
- Bring one’s A-game
- Bring the house down and bring down the house
- Bring vs take
- Briton
- Briton vs Britain
- Broach vs. brooch
- Broke the mold
- Bromance
- Bromide
- Bronx cheer and blow a raspberry
- Brouhaha
- Brownie points
- Brown-nose and brownnose
- Browse vs brows
- Brung, brang
- Brussels sprout
- Bucket list
- Buckle up vs buck up
- Buck naked, butt naked
- Buffer vs. buffet
- Buffet vs buffet
- Bugbear or bugaboo
- Building castles in the air
- Build up vs. buildup
- Bulk, balk, baulk
- Bullion vs boullion
- Bullseye or bull’s eye
- Bully pulpit
- Bumper crop
- Bumpkin
- Bum steer
- Bum-rush vs bum’s rush
- Bundle of joy
- Bunk vs debunk
- Bunk, bunkum, buncombe
- Bunny vs Bunnie
- Bunt vs Bundt
- Bun in the oven
- Bupkis
- Burger vs burgher
- Burgle vs. burglarize
- Burned vs. burnt
- Burning the midnight oil
- Burnish vs tarnish
- Burnout vs. burn out
- Burn one’s bridges and burn one’s boats
- Burn the candle at both ends
- Burrow vs borrow
- Bursted
- Burst one’s bubble and pop one’s bubble
- Burthen
- Bury one’s head in the sand
- Bury the hatchet
- Bused, bussed, or bust
- Buses vs. busses
- Busman’s holiday
- Bust one’s chops and lick one’s chops
- Busybody
- Bus stop vs. busstop
- Butterfingers
- Butterflies in one’s stomach
- Butterfly effect
- Butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth
- Buttonhole
- Butt heads and bump heads
- Butt of a joke
- But vs butt
- But vs. yet
- Buy a lemon
- Buy, by or bye
- Buzzword
- Byproduct
- By and by vs. by the by
- By dint of
- By hook or by crook
- By the same token
- By the skin of one’s teeth
- By the way and BTW
- By, bye and buy
C
- Cabin fever
- Cacao vs. cocoa
- Cache vs cash
- Cache vs. cachet
- Cacti Vs Cactuses – Which Is The Correct Plural Usage
- Caddie vs. caddy
- Caduceus vs staff of Asclepius
- Caesarean section, Caesarian, cesarean, etc.
- Cahoots
- Cakewalk
- Calendar vs colander
- Caliber vs. calibre
- Calibration vs collaboration
- Callous vs. callus
- Call a spade a spade
- Call it a day and call it a night
- Call on the carpet
- Call someone’s bluff
- Call the shots
- Call vs caul
- Calm before the storm
- Calumny
- Calvary vs. cavalry
- Calves vs. calfs
- Camaraderie vs comradery
- Canard
- Canary in the coalmine
- Canceled vs. Cancelled – Which Is Correct?
- Candor or candour
- Candy corn
- Cannon fodder
- Cannot or can not
- Canny vs uncanny
- Canon vs. cannon
- Cantankerous
- Cantor vs canter
- Canvas vs. canvass
- Can goods or canned goods
- Can of worms vs pandora’s box
- Can vs may
- Can’t hold a candle to
- Can’t vs cant
- Capiche, Capeesh, Capische – Meaning & Usage
- Capital vs. capitol
- Capitulate vs recapitulate
- Capstone, keystone or cornerstone
- Captivate vs capture
- Caramel vs carmel
- Carbon copy
- Carbon footprint
- Carburetor vs carburettor
- Card shark vs. card sharp
- Careen vs. career
- Caregiver or caretaker
- Caretaker vs caregiver
- Carnation vs incarnation
- Carnivore, herbivore or omnivore
- Carpetbagger
- Carpe diem
- Carrot, carat, karat, caret
- Carrot-and-stick
- Carry a torch for someone, torch song and torch singer
- Carry on, carry-on, and carrion
- Carte blanche
- Cartography
- Carved in stone, set in stone and written in stone
- Car hood and car bonnet
- Car park vs parking lot
- Case in point
- Cashmere vs Kashmir
- Cash cow
- Cash in one’s chips
- Cash on the nail and cash on the barrelhead
- Casket vs coffin
- Cassandra
- Casted
- Caste vs cast
- Castigate vs castrate
- Cast aspersions
- Cast a wide net
- Cast pearls before swine
- Cast the first stone
- Cast-iron stomach
- Catachresis
- Catalog vs. catalogue
- Catalyse or catalyze
- Catcall
- Catch lightning in a bottle
- Catch some rays
- Catch some Zs
- Catch vs ketch
- Catch-22
- Categorize vs categorise
- Cattle vs chattel
- Catty-corner, kitty-corner
- Cat got your tongue?
- Caucus
- Caught in the crosshairs or cross hairs
- Caught red-handed
- Cause celebre
- Cauterize vs cauterise
- Cavalcade
- Cavalier
- Caveat
- Caveat emptor
- Cay, quay and key
- Cease and desist
- Cease and surcease
- Cede and seed
- Cede vs. concede
- Ceiling vs sealing
- Celebrant or celebrator
- Celiac or coeliac
- Celiac vs celeraic
- Cellar vs seller
- Cel, cell or sell
- Censer vs censor vs censure vs sensor
- Center around or center on
- Center vs. Centre
- Centrifugal vs. centripetal
- Centrifuge vs. subterfuge
- Centuries
- Cent, scent and sent
- Cereal vs serial
- Ceremonial vs ceremonious
- Certainty vs. certitude
- Certifiable
- Cession vs. session
- Chafe vs. chaff
- Chain letter
- Chaise lounge and chaise longue
- Chai vs chia
- Chalk up vs. chock
- Champing At The Bit Vs Chomping At The Bit & Meaning
- Change tack
- Chapstick
- Character or caricature
- Charade and charades
- Charism vs charisma
- Charlatan
- Charley horse
- Charnel house
- Chary vs cherry
- Chase one’s own tail
- Chasten vs. chastise
- Chaste vs chased
- Chatbot
- Chateaus vs chateaux
- Chatty Cathy
- Chav
- Cheapskate
- Cheap vs cheep
- Checkered past and chequered past
- Checkout vs. check out
- Check in vs. Check-in (vs. Checkin)
- Check kiting
- Check up vs. checkup
- Check vs. cheque
- Cheek by jowl
- Cheek to cheek vs cheek-to-cheek
- Cherry-pick
- Chews vs choose
- Chew someone out
- Chew the fat
- Chicanery
- Chickens come home to roost
- Chicken and egg situation
- Chick flick and chick lit
- Chic vs. sheik
- Childcare, child care, child-care
- Childish vs. childlike
- Chili vs. chilly
- Chills down the spine
- Chimera
- Chink in one’s armor
- Chink vs. kink
- Chinwag
- Chips vs. fries
- Chip on your shoulder
- Choate or inchoate
- Chock-a-block vs chockablock
- Chock-full
- Chopper vs. copter
- Chorale, choral or corral
- Chortle
- Chose vs. Choose – Usage With Examples
- Chow vs ciao
- Christmas Adam
- Chump change
- Chunder or chunter
- Chute vs. shoot
- Cinch the deal or clinch the deal
- Cisgender vs transgender
- Cistern vs sister
- Citizen journalism
- Civic vs. civil
- Civilise vs. civilize
- Civil rights and human rights
- Clamor vs clamber
- Clam up
- Claptrap
- Classic vs. classical
- Clauses
- Clause vs claws
- Cleanliness is next to godliness
- Cleanup vs. clean up
- Clean someone’s clock
- Clean vs. cleanse
- Cleave
- Clef vs cliff
- Clench vs. clinch
- Clew vs clue
- Clickbait
- Click vs clique
- Client vs. customer
- Cliffhanger
- Cliffs Notes
- Climactic vs. climatic
- Clime vs climb
- Cloak-and-dagger
- Clone
- Closer vs closure
- Close but no cigar
- Close proximity
- Close ranks
- Close rhyme
- Close shave
- Close vs close
- Close vs clothes
- Close-knit and tight-knit
- Close-minded vs. closed-minded
- Cloth vs clothes
- Cloture vs closure
- Cloying and mawkish
- Coal, cole or kohl
- Coarse vs. course
- Coast is clear
- Cockamamie
- Cock and bull story
- Coddle and mollycoddle
- Coddle vs caudle
- Coffice
- Cognate and false cognate
- Coiffure vs coiffeur
- Coin a phrase
- Cold feet
- Cold shoulder
- Cold turkey
- Cold-call
- Coliseum vs. colosseum
- Collaborate vs corroborate
- Collectible vs collectable
- Collective nouns
- College vs. university
- Collegial vs. collegiate
- Collision vs collusion
- Collocate
- Collocate vs colocate
- Colonize vs colonise
- Color outside the lines
- Color vs. colour
- Coma vs comma
- Combine vs combine
- Comb-over
- Comedienne
- Comestible vs combustible
- Comeuppance
- Come hell or high water
- Come over vs overcome
- Come what may
- Come-hither look
- Come-to-Jesus moment and come-to-Jesus meeting
- Comic vs. comical
- Coming Down the Pike vs. Coming Down the Pipe
- Coming of age
- Comity vs comedy
- Comma Rules and Usage With Examples
- Commencement
- Commend vs command
- Commentator vs. commenter
- Comme ci, comme ça
- Commiserate vs commensurate
- Common French expressions
- Compact vs compact
- Comparatives and superlatives
- Compared to or compared with
- Comparing apples and oranges
- Compel vs. impel
- Competence and competency
- Complacent vs complicit
- Complacent vs. complaisant
- Complement vs. compliment
- Compose vs. comprise
- Compound vs compound
- Compress vs compress
- Comprise vs compromise
- Compunction vs compulsion
- Computerize or computerise
- Concave vs. convex
- Conceded or conceited
- Conceive vs. perceive
- Concerning
- Concerted
- Conches vs. conchs
- Concurrent vs consecutive
- Condemn vs. condone
- Conduct vs conduct
- Confidant vs. confidante
- Confident vs confidant/confidante
- Confirmation bias
- Conflate vs conflagrate
- Conflict of interest
- Confusables
- Congruent vs. congruous
- Conjunctions
- Conjunctions to start sentences
- Conker vs conquer
- Connect the dots and join the dots
- Connexion
- Connive vs contrive
- Connote vs. denote
- Conscience, conscious and self-conscious
- Consequential vs consensual
- Conservatory, solarium or sunroom
- Consolation vs constellation
- Console vs console
- Consonance vs assonance
- Conspiracy or collusion
- Constant vs consistent
- Construct vs construct
- Consultative
- Contaminate vs contaminant
- Contemporaneous vs. contemporary
- Contemptible vs. contemptuous
- Contentious vs conscientious
- Content or contented
- Content vs content
- Contest vs contest
- Contiguous vs continuous
- Continental breakfast
- Contingency vs contingent
- Continual vs. continuous
- Contractions
- Contract a disease or contact a disease
- Contraption
- Contravene vs contradict
- Contronym and auto-antonym
- Contumely
- Conundrum
- Conversate
- Convict vs convict
- Convivial vs congenial
- Convocation, commencement or invocation
- Cooking the books
- Cooler heads prevail
- Cool one’s heels
- Coon’s age
- Cooperate vs. co-operate
- Coop, coup or coupe
- Coordinate adjectives
- Coordinate and cumulative adjectives
- Cooties
- Copacetic or copasetic
- Copse vs cops
- Copyright vs. copywrite
- Copyscape Review – Any Good Alternatives?
- Coral vs. corral
- Cord vs. chord
- Core, corps and corpse
- Cornball and corny
- Cornet vs. coronet
- Corn flour vs cornmeal
- Corollary vs. correlation
- Correspondence vs correspondents
- Corroborate vs cooperate
- Cosmetology vs. cosmology
- Cosplay
- Cosset vs corset
- Cosy vs. cozy
- Cottage industry
- Cotton candy or cotton floss or fairy floss
- Couch-surf
- Could care less
- Could have, could’ve or could of
- Council vs. counsel
- Counselor vs. Counsellor
- Counsel vs consul
- Country mile
- Coups vs coos
- Coup de grace
- Coup d’état
- Court disaster
- Covert vs overt
- Cover all the bases
- Cover one’s tracks
- Covet vs covert
- Coward vs cowered
- Co-op vs. co-opt
- Co-ordinate vs coordinate
- Crackerjack
- Crack down vs. crackdown
- Crack the whip
- Crap
- Crapshoot
- Crave vs craven
- Crayfish, crawfish, crawdad, etc.
- Crayon vs Crayola
- Cream of the crop
- Creature comfort
- Crèche and manger
- Credible vs. credulous
- Credible, creditable or credulous
- Creek vs creak
- Creeped vs. crept
- Crème de la crème
- Crevasse vs. crevice
- Crewel vs cruel
- Crews vs cruise
- Crick (variant of creek)
- Crier vs. cryer
- Crime doesn’t pay
- Crisis of conscience vs crisis of confidence
- Criteria, criterion
- Criticize or criticise
- Crocodile tears
- Cronyism
- Crooked vs crooked
- Cross that bridge when one comes to it
- Cross the line
- Cross the Rubicon
- Cross vs crucifix
- Crowdsourcing vs crowdfunding
- Croze vs crows
- Cruciferous
- Crueler or crueller, cruelest or cruellest
- Crumby vs. crummy
- Cryptid
- Cry all the way to the bank
- Cry over spilled milk and cry over spilt milk
- Culpable vs liable
- Cultural appropriation
- Cul-de-sac
- Cum
- Curate’s egg
- Curb vs. kerb
- Curds and whey
- Curiosity killed the cat
- Curl one’s hair
- Curmudgeon
- Currant vs current
- Currently
- Curricula vs curriculums
- Curriculum vitae vs résumé
- Curry favor
- Cursive vs coercive
- Cursory vs curse
- Cursor vs curser
- Curtsy vs courtesy
- Customise vs. Customize
- Custom vs costume
- Cutesy
- Cute as a button
- Cut and dried
- Cut off your nose to spite your face
- Cut one’s losses
- Cut the mustard
- Cut to the chase
- Cut to the quick
- Cut-throat
- Cyberspace
- Cybersquatting
- Cyber-
- Cyclist vs. biker
- Cynical
- C’est la vie
D
- Dactyl
- Dad bod
- Dahlesque
- Daily grind
- Dais
- Damn the torpedoes
- Damn with faint praise
- Dampen, damper, dampener
- Damp squib
- Dam vs. damn
- Dance on someone’s grave
- Danglers
- Dangling modifier
- Daresay
- Dark horse
- Data is or Data are? The Singular vs. Plural Debate
- Dates and commas
- Davy Jones’s locker
- Dawn on
- Daylight Saving Time or British Summer Time
- Days vs daze
- Day in age (day and age)
- Deadbeat
- Dead As A Doornail Idiom Definition And Origin
- Dead end
- Dead man walking
- Dead meat
- Dead ringer
- Dead set, dead-set, deadset
- Dead to rights
- Deaf vs deft
- Dealt vs. dealed
- Dearth
- Dear John letter
- Debark or disembark
- Debauchery
- Decathlon, heptathlon, pentathlon, triathlon and biathlon
- Decent vs. descent
- Deceptively
- Decidedly
- Decimate
- Decisive vs divisive
- Deck the halls
- Declarative, imperative, exclamatory and interrogative sentences
- Deconstruction
- Decrepit vs deprecate
- Decry vs. descry
- Decussate vs desiccate
- Deduce vs. induce
- Deduct vs deduce
- Deepfake
- Deepnet, darknet and deep web
- Deep-seeded vs. deep-seated
- Deer in the headlights
- Deer vs deers
- Defence vs. defense
- Defenestration
- Definite Articles in English With Examples and Quiz
- Definite vs definitive
- Definition and Examples of Interjections
- Defuse vs. diffuse
- Degenerate vs denigrate
- Deign
- Deign vs Dane
- Déjà vu
- Delegate vs delegate
- Delegate vs relegate
- Deleterious vs detrimental
- Deliberate vs deliberate
- Delude vs dilute
- Delusions of grandeur
- Demagogue vs demigod
- Demeanor or demeanour
- Democracy vs republic
- Demon vs daemon
- Demur vs. demure
- Denounce vs. renounce
- Dents vs dense
- Dent vs dint
- Dependant vs. dependent
- Deplane or disembark
- Depose vs dispose
- Deposition vs disposition
- Depository vs. repository
- Depravation vs deprivation
- Deprecate vs. depreciate
- Depute vs dispute
- Derision vs decision
- Derring-do
- Descendant vs. descendent
- Desert vs desert
- Desert vs dessert
- Desolate vs destitute
- Desperate vs disparate
- Despite vs. in spite of
- Destroy vs. destruct
- Deteriorate vs decline
- Detract vs. distract
- Deus ex machina
- Device vs. devise
- Deviled vs devilled
- Devil is in the details vs. God is in the detail
- Devil take the hindmost
- Devil vs bedevil
- Devil’s advocate
- Devil’s food cake
- Deviser vs divisor
- Dewclaw
- Dew, do and due
- De facto
- De rigueur
- Dharma and karma
- Diagram
- Dialectal vs. dialectical
- Dialogue vs dialog
- Diametrically opposed
- Diamond in the rough
- Diaspora
- Dibs and calling dibs
- Dice Vs Die – Which Is Singular And Which Is Plural?
- Dichotomy vs discrepancy
- Dichotomy vs paradox
- Dickensian
- Didactic vs pedantic
- Dieresis and diaeresis
- Dietician or dietitian
- Die on the vine
- Difference vs deference
- Differential vs deferential
- Different from, different than, different to
- Diffidence vs difference
- Digest vs digest
- Dike vs. dyke
- Diktat
- Dilapidated
- Dilemma
- Dingo’s breakfast
- Directional words
- Dire straits
- Dire vs dyer
- Dirigible or blimp
- Dirty Pool
- Disabuse, misuse and abuse
- Disassemble vs. dissemble
- Disburse vs. disperse
- Discombobulate
- Discomfit vs. discomfort
- Disconnect
- Discord vs accord
- Discrete vs. discreet
- Disc vs. disk
- Disdain or distain
- Disenfranchise vs. disfranchise
- Disillusion vs. dissolution
- Disinterested vs. uninterested
- Disparity vs disparateness
- Dispatch vs. Despatch
- Dispense with vs. dispose of
- Disposed vs. predisposed
- Dissatisfied or unsatisfied
- Dissent vs descent
- Dissociate vs. disassociate
- Distaff
- Distinct vs. distinctive
- Distrust vs. mistrust
- Dis vs. diss
- Ditto and ditto mark
- Divers vs. diverse
- Divorcée, divorcé, divorcee
- Docent
- Dock vs doc
- Dodged a bullet
- Doesn’t hold water
- Does vs does
- Dogged vs dogged
- Doggerel
- Doggie bag and doggy bag
- Dog and pony show
- Dog breed names
- Dog days
- Dog-ear
- Dog-eat-dog
- Dog-whistle
- Doh, doe or dough
- Dole out vs. doll out
- Dollars to doughnuts
- Dominant vs predominant
- Dominate vs dominant
- Domino effect
- Done vs dun
- Donner or Donder
- Donnybrook
- Don vs dawn
- Don’t borrow trouble
- Don’t change horses in midstream
- Don’t count your chickens
- Don’t give up the ship
- Don’t hold your breath
- Don’t let the door hit you
- Don’t let the grass grow under your feet
- Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth
- Don’t put all your eggs in one basket
- Don’t rain on my parade
- Don’t’s or don’ts
- Don’t judge a book by its cover
- Doodle
- Doomsday vs Domesday
- Doppelgänger
- Dossier
- Dos or do’s
- Dotage vs senility
- Dotard
- Doublethink, doublespeak or double-talk
- Double dog dare
- Double down vs buckle down
- Double entendre
- Double jeopardy
- Double negatives
- Double vs. redouble
- Double whammy vs whammy
- Double-check
- Double-edged sword
- Doubting Thomas
- Doubtlessly
- Doughnut vs. donut
- Douse vs. dowse
- Dove vs dove
- Dove vs. dived
- Downfall vs. downside
- Downplay or play down
- Downright vs outright
- Down at the heels
- Down in the dumps
- Down in the mouth
- Down the hatch
- Down the rabbit hole
- Down the road
- Down to the wire
- Doxing and doxxing
- Doyen or doyenne vs docent
- Do apologize
- Do as I say, not as I do
- Do a Houdini and pull a Houdini
- Do a 180 or do a 360
- Do right by
- Do the math
- Draconian
- Draft vs. draught
- Dragged vs. drug
- Drag one’s feet and drag one’s heels
- Draughts and checkers
- Drawer vs drawer
- Draw a bead on
- Draw a blank
- Draw a line in the sand
- Dreamed vs. dreamt
- Dredge up and dig up
- Dredge vs drudge
- Dregs vs dredge
- Dreidel or dreidl
- Dribble vs. drivel
- Dribs and drabs
- Drier vs. dryer
- Drink drank drunk
- Drink the Kool-Aid
- Drive-by
- Droll
- Drop a dime
- Drop like flies
- Drop off vs. drop-off (vs. dropoff)
- Drop someone a line
- Drop the ball
- Drop-dead vs drop dead!
- Drown one’s sorrows
- Drum someone out
- Druthers
- Dry goods
- Dry run
- Dual vs. duel
- Duck tape or duct tape
- Dudgeon vs dungeon
- Due diligence
- Due process
- Due to vs because of
- Duly noted
- Duly vs dully
- Dumb down
- Dumb waiter and dumbwaiter
- Dumpster fire
- Dumpster vs dumpster
- Duplicate vs duplicity
- Duplicate vs replicate
- During the course of
- Du jour
- Dwarfs vs. dwarves
- Dwelled vs. dwelt
- Dyed in the wool
- Dyeing vs. dying
- Dystopia or utopia
- D’oh
E
- Each other vs. one another
- Eager beaver
- Earmark
- Earnest vs Ernest
- Earn vs urn
- Earthy vs. earthly
- Earworm
- Ear candy and eye candy
- Easier said than done
- Easter egg
- Easy on the eyes
- Easy pickings
- Eating out of someone’s hand
- Eat crow
- Eat humble pie
- Eat one’s words
- Eat, drink and be merry
- Eavesdrop
- Eaves vs eves
- Ecclesiastical and ecclesiastic
- Eclipses vs ellipsis
- Economics vs. finance
- Economic vs. economical
- Ecumenical
- Editing vs Proofreading
- Eek vs. eke
- Eeny, meeny, miny, mo
- Effable vs affable
- Effete
- Eggnog
- Egg someone on
- Egregious vs gregarious
- Eighty-six
- Either vs ether
- Either vs neither
- Elaborate vs elaborate
- Elbow grease
- Elbow room
- Elder, eldest
- Electric vs eclectic
- Electric, electrical, electronic
- Elegy vs. eulogy
- Elephant in the room
- Eleventh hour
- Elfs vs. elves
- Elicit vs. illicit
- Elocution vs. locution
- Elvis has left the building
- Embed vs imbed
- Embolization and embolisation
- Emeritus
- Emigrate vs. immigrate
- Eminent vs. immanent vs. imminent
- Emission vs omission
- Emoji vs emoticon
- Emolument vs emollient
- Empathetic vs. empathic
- Empathy vs. sympathy
- Emphasise vs emphasize
- Empire vs umpire
- Em Dash Usage and Examples
- Enamor vs. enamour
- Enclose vs. inclose
- Endear
- Endeavor vs. endeavour
- Endemic vs. epidemic
- Ending a Sentence With a Preposition (Worksheet Included)
- Endorphin
- End of the line
- End on a high note and go out on a high note
- End run
- Energize vs energise
- Enervate
- Enervate vs energize
- Enervate vs. innervate
- Enfant terrible
- Enfold vs infold
- England, Great Britain, United Kingdom
- English in flux: 10 word peeves that should be laid to rest
- English moods (imperative, indicative, and subjunctive)
- Engrain vs. ingrain
- Enjoin vs join
- Enmity vs animosity
- Enormity vs. enormousness
- Enquire vs. inquire
- Enrol vs. Enroll
- Ensconce vs sconce
- Enthuse
- Entitled vs. titled
- Entomology vs. etymology
- Entrance vs entrance
- Entree vs entrée
- Envelop vs. envelope
- Envision vs. envisage
- Envision vs. invision
- Envoi vs. envoy
- En Dash (En Rule) – When To Use It (With Examples)
- En masse
- En route
- En vogue, in vogue
- Épée, foil or sabre
- Epicenter
- Epic vs epoch
- Epidemic vs. Pandemic
- Epigram vs. epigraph
- Epiphany or Twelfth Night
- Epitaph vs epithet
- Epithet vs sobriquet
- Epitome vs epiphany
- Eponymous
- Equable, equatable, equitable
- Equator vs prime meridian
- Equinox vs solstice
- Equivalence vs. equivalency
- Equivocate vs prevaricate
- Ere vs. err
- Ergo
- Ergonomics
- Erin go bragh
- Erratum, addendum and corrigendum
- Ersatz
- Erupt vs irrupt
- Eschew
- Esoteric vs archaic
- Especial
- Especially vs specially
- Espouse vs expound
- Espresso vs. expresso
- Esprit de corps
- Estimate vs estimate
- Estimate vs. estimation
- Estimation or approximation
- Ethereal vs ephemeral
- Ethics vs. morals
- Ethnicity vs. race
- Ethnic vs ethic
- Et Al Meaning, Punctuation and Usage With Examples
- Et cetera (etc.)
- Euphemism
- Evacuate
- Evade vs invade
- Even keel
- Even-Steven and Even-Stevens
- Everybody who is anybody
- Everyday vs. every day
- Everyone vs every one
- Everything happens for a reason
- Every nook and cranny
- Evidence vs evince
- Evoke vs. invoke
- Ewe, yew or you
- Exacerbate vs exasperate
- Exact revenge vs extract revenge
- Exalt vs. exult
- Exceed vs accede
- Excelsior and wood wool
- Excited vs exited
- Exclamation point
- Excoriate vs execrate
- Excrete vs secrete
- Exculpate vs exonerate
- Excuse vs excuse
- Exemplary
- Exercise vs. exorcise
- Exhibit vs. exhibition
- Exhort vs extort
- Existential
- Existent vs. extant
- Expatriate vs ex-patriot
- Expatriate vs immigrant
- Expectant vs. expecting
- Expedient vs expeditious
- Expedite vs expedient
- Expend vs expand
- Expiration date and expiry date
- Explicate vs expletive
- Explicit vs implicit
- Exploitative vs. exploitive
- Expose vs exposé
- Expound vs expand
- Extant vs extent
- Extemporaneous
- Extol vs extoll
- Extract vs extract
- Extradite vs expedite
- Extraordinaire
- Extricate vs extirpate
- Exuberant vs exorbitant
- Ex post facto
- Eyelet vs islet
- E pluribus unum
- E-book, ebook, eBook
- E-mail vs. email
- E.g. vs. i.e.
- E. coli
F
- Fabulist
- Facepalm
- Face the music
- Factious vs facetious
- Factious vs fractious
- Factoid
- Factotum
- Faeces vs feces
- Fail vs flunk
- Faint of heart
- Faint vs feint
- Fain vs. feign
- Fairy vs ferry
- Fairy-tale ending
- Fair and square
- Fair dinkum
- Fair To Middling Vs Fair To Midland
- Fair vs. fare
- Fair-weather friend
- Fait accompli
- Faker vs fakir
- Fallow vs follow
- Fall from grace
- Fall guy
- Fall into one’s lap and land in one’s lap
- Fall on one’s sword
- Fall through the cracks and slip through the cracks
- Falsehood, falsity, falseness
- False flag
- Fame vs defame
- Familiarity breeds contempt
- Famous last words
- Famous, infamous and notorious
- Fantods
- Fan the flames
- Faraway vs far away
- Faro, farrow or pharaoh
- Farther vs. further
- Far East, Middle East, Near East
- Far-fetched
- Fastly
- Fatal vs fateful
- Fate vs fete
- Fatuous vs facetious
- Faun vs. fawn
- Faux
- Faux pas
- Faux-naïf
- Favorite vs. favourite
- Favor vs. favour
- Fay, fey
- Faze vs. phase
- Fearful vs. fearsome
- Feather one’s nest
- Feckless
- Feckless vs reckless
- Feeding frenzy
- Feel one’s oats
- Feet of clay
- Feet vs feat
- Fell off the back of a truck
- Feminity vs. femininity
- Femme fatale
- Ferment or foment
- Ferret out
- Fervent vs. fervid
- Festivus
- Fete
- Fewer vs. less
- Few vs phew
- Fiancé vs. fiancée
- Fiat
- Fiber vs. fibre
- Fictional vs. fictitious
- Fiction vs. nonfiction
- Fiddle while Rome burns
- Fie
- Fiefdom
- Fifteen minutes of fame
- Fifth column
- Fifth wheel vs third wheel
- Fight fire with fire
- Fight tooth and nail
- Figment of one’s imagination
- Figurehead
- Figures of speech
- Filet vs. fillet
- File, phial or faille
- Filibuster
- Finagle
- Finale vs finally
- Final vs finale
- Financer vs. financier
- Finders keepers
- Find vs fined
- Finely or finally
- Fingers crossed
- Finger-licking good
- Finger-pointing and point the finger
- Finite verb
- Firebrand
- Firefight
- Firefly and lightning bug
- Fireplace vs hearth
- Fire and brimstone
- Fire in the hole vs fire in the hold
- Firing line vs. line of fire
- Firing on all cylinders
- Firsthand and secondhand vs first-hand and second-hand
- Firstly, Secondly, Thirdly, etc.
- First aid
- First Come, First Served
- First floor
- First things first
- First World problem
- First, second and third person
- First-world, third-world
- Fiscal vs physical
- Fish or cut bait
- Fish or Fishes – What is the Plural of Fish?
- Fish story
- Fissure vs fisher
- Fit the bill and fill the bill
- Fit to be tied
- Fit vs. fitted
- Five o’clock shadow
- Flack vs. flak
- Flagellants vs flatulence
- Flagship
- Flair vs. flare
- Flammable vs. inflammable
- Flap one’s gums
- Flash in the pan
- Flash mob
- Flatten the curve
- Flat out
- Flaunt vs. flout
- Flautist vs. flutist
- Flavor of the month
- Flavor vs. flavour
- Flea vs flee
- Fleshly vs. fleshy
- Flesh and blood
- Flesh out vs. flush out
- Flesh vs flèche
- Fleur-de-lis
- Flied
- Flip one’s lid vs. flip one’s wig
- Flocks vs phlox
- Floe vs flow
- Flora and fauna
- Flotsam and jetsam
- FLOTUS
- Flounder vs. founder
- Flower vs flour
- Flue vs flew
- Flummox
- Fluorescent vs incandescent
- Flu vs. flue
- Fly in the face of
- Fly in the ointment
- Fly off the handle
- Fly the coop
- Fly-by-night
- Foaled vs fold
- Foaming at the mouth
- Fob off
- Fodder vs father
- Foe vs faux
- Foist
- Folderol
- Fold one’s tent
- Foley
- Follow suit
- Follow up vs. Follow-up vs. Followup – Which is Correct?
- FOMO
- Font vs fount
- Food coma
- Food for thought
- Foolproof vs. full-proof
- Fools rush in where angels fear to tread
- Fool Me Once, Shame on You; Fool Me Twice, Shame on Me
- Fool’s errand
- Fool’s paradise
- Foot
- Football fields
- Footloose and fancy-free
- Foot long
- Foot the bill
- Fora vs. forums
- Forbear vs. forebear
- Forbidden fruit
- Forbidding vs. foreboding
- Forceful vs forcible
- Force majeure
- Force one’s hand
- Foregone conclusion
- Forego vs. forgo
- Forewarned is forearmed
- Foreword vs. forward
- Formally vs formerly
- Former, latter
- Formulas vs formulae
- Forte
- Forth vs fourth
- Fortnight
- Fortuitous vs. fortunate
- Fortune Favors The Bold And Fortune Favors The Brave
- Forty vs. fourty
- Forty winks
- For all intensive purposes (for all intents and purposes)
- For all the marbles
- For crying out loud
- For God’s sake
- For heaven’s sake
- For the birds
- For the purpose of
- For, four and fore
- Fosbury flop
- Foul vs. fowl
- Fount Of Knowledge Or Wisdom VS Font Of Knowledge Or Wisdom
- Four-flusher
- Four-letter word
- Fox guarding the hen house
- Fracking
- Fractious vs fracas
- Fractious vs fraction
- Frankenstein’s monster
- Franken-
- Frankincense and myrrh
- Fraud or defraud
- Fraught
- Freegan and freeganism
- Freeze vs frieze
- Free rein vs. free reign
- Free-for-all
- French Accent Marks – Aigu, Grave And More
- French alphabet pronunciation
- French Days, Months and Seasons
- French definite articles
- French indefinite articles
- French noun gender
- French numbers
- French partitive article
- Frenemy
- Freshwater vs. fresh water
- Freudian slip
- Friable vs fryable
- Friar vs fryer
- Friendsgiving
- Friends with benefits
- Fringe benefit
- Fritter away
- Frivolity vs. frivolousness
- Frogmarch or frog-march
- Frog in one’s throat
- From pillar to post
- From Soup to Nuts
- From the bottom of one’s heart
- From the get-go
- Fuddle
- Fuddy-duddy
- Fueled/fueling vs. fuelled/fuelling
- Fulfil vs. fulfill
- Full of beans
- Full of oneself
- Full stop vs. period
- Full-court press
- Full-fledged, fully fledged
- Fulminate vs culminate
- Fulsome
- Funereal
- Fungi vs. funguses
- Funk
- Funner, funnest
- Furlough
- Furor vs. furore
- Fur vs fir
- Fusillade vs fuselage
- Fusion vs confusion
- Futile vs feudal
- Futz vs putz
G
- Gadfly
- Gaelic vs Gallic
- Gaff vs. gaffe
- Gage, gauge, and gouge
- Gaiety or mirth
- Gainsay
- Gaiter vs gator
- Gait vs gate
- Gallimaufry
- Gallon vs galleon
- Gallop vs Gallup
- Gallop vs galop
- Gall vs Gaul
- Galore
- Galumph
- Gambit
- Gambol vs. gamble
- Game changer
- Game the system
- Gamut vs gambit
- Gantlet vs. gauntlet
- Gaol vs. jail
- Garbage in, garbage out
- Gargle vs. gurgle
- Gargoyle or grotesque
- Garner vs garnish
- Garnish vs garnishee
- Garret vs garrote
- Garrote, garrotte, or garotte
- Garter snake
- Gaslighting
- Gasses vs. Gases – Which is the Correct Plural?
- Gastropub
- Gatecrasher
- Gaudy vs. gawdy
- Gaveled vs. gavelled
- Gavel-to-gavel
- Gay
- Gel vs jell
- Gemology vs gemmology
- Gender vs engender
- Gender vs. sex
- Generalize vs generalise
- Genericide
- Genes vs jeans
- Gentle vs genteel
- Gentrification
- Geocaching
- Geographic vs geographical
- German vs germane
- Geronimo!
- Gerrymander
- Gerund – Definition and Sentence Examples
- Gestalt
- Gesture vs jester
- Gesundheit
- Getaway vs get away
- Get a foot in the door
- Get a handle on
- Get a word in edgewise and get a word in edgeways
- Get back in the saddle
- Get back on the horse
- Get hitched
- Get in on the ground floor
- Get one’s act together
- Get one’s dander up or get one’s dandruff up
- Get one’s ducks in a row and have one’s ducks in a row
- Get one’s hands dirty
- Get one’s back up
- Get out of Dodge
- Get religion
- Get someone’s goat
- Get the ball rolling and start the ball rolling
- Get the lead out
- Get the scoop
- Get the short end or the wrong end of the stick
- Get the skinny
- Get together vs get-together
- Get under one’s skin
- Get up in one’s grill
- Get up on the wrong side of the bed and wake up on the wrong side of the bed
- Get wind of
- Ghosting
- Ghost in the machine
- Ghost vs ghoul
- Gibberish
- Gibe, jibe, jive
- GIF
- Gift (as a verb)
- Gild the lily
- Gild vs. guild
- Gilt vs guilt
- Gimlet eye and gimlet cocktail
- Gimme
- Ginger Grammar Checker Review
- Ginger vs. Grammarly
- Ginormous
- Gin something up
- Gird one’s loins
- Gist vs jest
- Gist vs. jist
- Git-go
- Give a wide berth
- Give him an inch and he’ll take a mile
- Give it the old college try
- Give no quarter
- Give one’s eye teeth
- Give someone the third degree
- Give up the ghost
- Give yourself away
- Glad-hand
- Glamour vs. glamor
- Glamping
- Glare vs glair
- Glass ceiling
- Gleam vs glean
- Glib
- Glitch
- Glom onto
- Gloves are off, take the gloves off
- Gobbledygook
- Gobsmacked
- Godspeed
- God helps those who help themselves
- God (capitalization)
- Goes without saying
- Gofer vs. gopher
- Going against the grain
- Going bananas
- Going Dutch and Dutch treat
- Going postal
- Going to rack and ruin
- Going to the dogs
- Going viral
- Goldbrick
- Golden ticket
- Gold-digger
- Gonna
- Goober
- Goodly
- Goody two shoes
- Good enough for government work and close enough for government work
- Good riddance
- Good Samaritan
- Good vs well
- Google vs google
- Goosebumps, goose pimples and gooseflesh
- Goose egg
- Goose is cooked
- Goose that lays the golden eggs
- Goose-step
- Gorilla vs. guerrilla
- Gorp
- Got vs. gotten
- Gourmet vs gourmand
- Governance vs. government
- Go big or go home
- Go down a treat
- Go for a song
- Go for broke
- Go for the jugular
- Go great guns
- Go haywire
- Go into a tailspin and send someone into a tailspin
- Go off half-cocked and go off at half-cock
- Go off the rails
- Go over with a fine-tooth comb
- Go pear-shaped
- Go the distance
- Go the extra mile
- Go to ground
- Go to hell in a handbasket
- Go to pot
- Go to seed
- Go to the mat and take it to the mat
- Go with the flow
- Go-between
- Graduate vs graduate
- Graffiti
- Grammarist
- Grammarly Free vs. Premium vs. Business
- Grammarly Review 2022 – Is Premium Worth It?
- Grammarly vs. Prowritingaid – Which is Better?
- Grammar vs. usage
- Grandfather (as a verb)
- Grandstanding
- Grand slam
- Grasping at straws or clutching at straws
- Grassroots vs grass roots
- Grass is always greener on the other side of the fence
- Grateful vs. gratified
- Grate on one’s nerves
- Grate vs great
- Gratis, gratuitous and gratuity
- Graveyard shift
- Gravid vs grave
- Gravity vs levity
- Gravy train
- Gray vs. grey
- Graze vs grays or greys
- Grease someone’s palm
- Great Scott!
- Greenhorn vs tinhorn
- Green around the gills and green about the gills
- Green light
- Green thumb and green fingers
- Green-eyed monster
- Gregarious vs garrulous
- Grenadine vs grenade
- Grieve vs aggrieve
- Grieve vs greave
- Grill vs. grille
- Grinch
- Grinded
- Grin like a Cheshire cat
- Grip vs grippe
- Grisly vs. grizzly
- Groan vs grown
- Grok
- Gross vs net
- Ground zero
- Groupthink
- Grub
- Grudge
- Gruel vs grueling
- Guarantee vs guaranty
- Guessed vs guest
- Guesstimate
- Guinea pig
- Guise vs guys
- Gumption
- Gung-ho
- Gunwale and gunnel
- Gun-shy
- Gussied up
- Guyline vs guideline
- Gymnasia vs. gymnasiums
H
- Habeas corpus
- Habit vs habitat
- Hail Mary play or Hail Mary pass
- Hail vs. hale
- Hairbrained vs. harebrained
- Hairy vs. harry
- Hair of the dog
- Hair vs hare
- Hair’s breadth (hare’s breath)
- Halcyon
- Halfhearted and half-hearted
- Half a loaf is better than none and half a loaf is better than no bread
- Half-baked
- Half-mast vs. half-staff
- Halitosis
- Halloween or Hallowe’en
- Hallow vs. hollow
- Hall vs haul
- Halve
- Halve vs have
- Ham it up
- Ham-fisted and ham-handed
- Handful, handfuls
- Handicap vs. handicapped
- Handle with kid gloves
- Hands down
- Hands on or hands-on
- Hand over fist
- Hand to mouth
- Hand-me-down
- Hand-wash
- Hangar vs. hanger
- Hangdog
- Hanged vs. hung
- Hangry
- Hang on like grim death and hang on for grim death
- Hang out to dry
- Hanker vs hunker
- Hanky-panky
- Hanukkah or Chanukah
- Happenstance
- Happy camper
- Happy median or happy medium
- Hara-kiri
- Harbinger
- Harbor vs. harbour
- Hardy vs. hearty
- Hare vs. rabbit
- Hark, harken, and hearken
- Harridan and harpy
- Hart vs heart
- Hashtag
- Hash out, thrash out
- Haste makes waste
- Has seen better days
- Hatemonger and hate-mongering
- Hate-watch
- Hats off to
- Hat trick
- Haughty vs hottie
- Have an ax to grind
- Have a beef
- Have a bee in one’s bonnet
- Have a cow and have kittens
- Have a field day
- Have a ringside seat
- Have a short fuse
- Have a target on one’s back
- Have a tiger by the tail
- Have one’s ears pinned back vs pin one’s ears back
- Have one’s work cut out
- Have someone buffaloed
- Have someone’s number and I’ve got your number
- Have the last laugh
- Have your cake and eat it too
- Hawk vs. hock
- Haymaker
- Hay vs hey
- Hay vs straw
- Heads or tails and can’t make heads or tails
- Heads up
- Heads will roll
- Headwind
- Head on the chopping block and on the chopping block
- Head over heels
- Head someone off at the pass and cut someone off at the pass
- Healthcare vs. Health Care – Which One is It?
- Healthful vs. healthy
- Heal vs. heel (and bring to heel)
- Heard vs herd
- Heartthrob
- Hear through the grapevine, bush telegraph or jungle telegraph
- Hear vs listen
- Hear, Hear Vs Here, Here
- Heavens to Murgatroyd Idiom Definition
- Heavy-handed
- Hector
- Hedge one’s bets
- Heebie-jeebies
- Heel, heal and he’ll
- Heighth
- Heir vs err
- Helicopter parent and lawnmower parent
- Hell for leather and hell-bent
- Helpless vs hapless
- Helter skelter or helter-skelter
- Hem and haw or hum and haw
- Hence
- Henpeck
- Herbivorous vs herbaceous
- Heretofore or hitherto
- Heroin vs. heroine
- Heterogeneous vs. heterogenous
- Heterometric
- Heteronym
- Hew vs. hue
- Heyday
- He who hesitates is lost
- He’d vs heed
- Hie
- Hieratic
- Hieroglyph vs hierograph
- Highbrow and lowbrow
- Higher vs hire
- Highfalutin
- Hightail
- High five
- High on the hog
- High-handed
- Hijinks or high jinks
- Himself vs hisself
- Hindsight is 20/20 and 20/20 hindsight
- Hinky
- Hippocratic vs hypocritical
- Hippogriff or griffin
- Hippopotami, hippopotamuses, hippos
- Historic vs. historical
- Histrionic, histrionics
- Hit a brick wall vs hit the wall
- Hit it off
- Hit pay dirt
- Hit the bricks
- Hit the deck
- Hit the ground running
- Hit the hay and hit the sack
- Hive mind
- Hi vs high
- Hoard vs. horde
- Hoarse vs horse
- Hoar vs whore
- Hoax
- Hobo, tramp, bum, or gutter punk
- Hobson’s choice
- Hocus-pocus
- Hodgepodge vs hotchpotch
- Hogwash
- Hoi polloi
- Hokey-pokey, hokey-cokey and hokey-tokey
- Hold all the cards and hold all the aces
- Hold at bay and keep at bay
- Hold my beer
- Hold someone’s feet to the fire
- Hold sway
- Hold the fort and hold down the fort
- Hold your horses
- Holey vs. holy
- Hole vs whole
- Holier-than-thou
- Holly vs holy
- Holy vs wholly
- Homely vs. homey
- Home In Vs Hone In – Meaning And When To Use Them
- Home in vs horn in
- Home school vs. homeschool (vs. home-school)
- Homily vs sermon
- Homogenous vs. homogeneous
- Homonym
- Homophones
- Homophones, homographs, and homonyms
- Homo sapiens
- Honcho
- Honesty is the best policy
- Honeymoon
- Honor among thieves and no honor among thieves
- Honor vs. honour
- Hoodwink
- Hoopla
- Hoosegow
- Hootenanny
- Hoover vs. vacuum
- Hooves or hoofs
- Hope or hopes
- Hoping vs hopping
- Hop, skip, and a jump
- Horn of plenty and cornucopia
- Horsey, horsy, horsie
- Horse of a different color and horse of another color
- Horticulturist vs arborist
- Hosanna
- Hot button
- Hot mess
- Hot potato
- Hot spot or hotspot
- Hot to trot
- Houndstooth
- Hour vs our
- House of cards
- House vs house
- How and When to Use a Colon (With Examples)
- How to Add and Use Grammarly in Google Docs
- How to Add Grammarly to Microsoft Word
- How to Become a Successful Writer – Where to Start?
- How to Check Grammar and Spelling in Google Docs
- How to Use Attend to vs. Tend to Correctly
- How to Use Await vs Wait Correctly
- How to Use Cannot See the Forest for the Trees Correctly
- How to Use Cue vs. Queue Correctly
- How to Use Forecast vs. Forecasted Correctly
- How to Use Get Down to Brass Tacks (Tax?) Correctly
- How to Use Learnings Correctly
- How to Use Stank vs. Stunk Correctly
- How To Use Transgender VS Transsexual VS Transvestite Correctly
- How’s it going
- Hubris
- Hue and cry
- Hullabaloo
- Human vs humane
- Humblebrag
- Humdinger
- Humongous
- Humorousness
- Humor VS Humour
- Hump day
- Humus vs. hummus
- Hunker down
- Hunky-dory
- Hunter-gatherer
- Hunt-and-peck
- Hurdle vs. hurtle
- Hurrah, hooray, hurray
- Hurricane, typhoon and cyclone
- Hush money
- Hush puppy, hushpuppy or hush-puppy
- Hustle and side hustle
- Hybrid vs highbred
- Hygge
- Hymn vs him
- Hyperbole
- Hyper- vs hypo-
- Hyphen Rules And Usage With Examples
- Hyphen, en dash or em dash
I
- Ibid vs idem
- Ice tea vs. iced tea
- Icing on the cake
- Iconoclast vs heretic
- Ideation vs idea
- Idea vs ideal
- Idea vs. ideal
- Identifying Subjects and Predicates With Printable Worksheets
- Ideogram
- Ideologue
- Ides of March
- Idiom vs colloquialism
- Idiot savant or savant syndrome
- Idle hands are the devil’s workshop, tools, or playground
- Idle, idol, idyll
- If it ain’t broke don’t fix it
- If need be or if needs be
- If the shoe fits and if the cap fits
- If vs whether
- If you can’t beat them, join them
- If you can’t stand the heat get out of the kitchen
- If you will
- Ignominious vs ignoble
- Ignoramus
- Ignorance is bliss
- Ilk
- Illegible vs. unreadable
- Ill-gotten gains
- Imaginary or imaginative
- Imagism
- Imbibe vs imbue
- Imbroglio
- IMHO
- Imitate vs emulate
- Imitate vs intimate
- Imitate vs intimidate
- Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery
- Immaculate Conception vs. virgin birth
- Immolate vs emulate
- Immunity vs. impunity
- Impactful
- Impair vs impede
- Impassable vs. impassible
- Impassive vs. passive
- Impecunious and pecunious
- Impending vs. pending
- Impends vs impinge
- Imperial vs empirical
- Imperial vs empyreal
- Imperious vs. impervious
- Impetus vs emphasis
- Impinge vs. infringe
- Implosion vs explosion
- Imply vs. infer
- Imposter vs. impostor
- Impractical vs impracticable
- Imprecation vs implication
- Impromptu or improvised
- Improvise vs. improvize
- Impudent vs imprudent
- Impugn vs. impute
- Inalienable vs. unalienable
- Inane vs insane
- Incarnation vs incarceration
- Incase or encase
- Incense vs incense
- Incentivize, incent
- Incidence vs. incidents
- Incipient or inchoate
- Incipient vs. insipient (vs. insipid)
- Incite vs insight
- Inclement vs. Inclimate
- Include, exclude or occlude
- Incommunicado
- Incomparable vs. uncomparable
- Incomplete comparison
- Incomprehensive or incomprehensible
- Incredible vs. incredulous
- Incubus, succubus
- Inculcate
- Indefatigable and defatigable
- Indefinite articles
- Indemnity and contribution
- Indeterminate vs indeterminable
- Indexes or Indices – The Plural Debate
- Indian corn
- Indian giver
- Indian summer
- Indict vs indite
- Indiscriminate vs undiscriminating
- Indolence vs insolence
- Indubitably vs undoubtedly
- Inequality vs. inequity
- Inequity vs. iniquity
- Inexplicable vs. unexplainable
- Infectious vs contagious
- Infect vs. infest
- Inference vs interference
- Inflict vs inflect
- Infomercial
- Infraction vs infarction
- Infuse vs suffuse
- Ingenious vs. ingenuous
- Ingrate vs ingratiate
- Inhabit vs habituate
- Inherent vs inherit
- Innate vs enate
- Innocuous vs inoculate
- Inn vs in
- Inpatient or outpatient
- Inroad vs inroads
- Inside baseball
- Inside track
- Insidious vs invidious
- Insofar (in so far)
- Insolent vs insolvent
- Insolent vs insulate
- Installation vs. installment
- Installment vs. Instalment
- Instantly vs. instantaneously
- Instigate vs incite
- Instigate vs investigate
- Instill vs install
- Instinctive vs. instinctual
- Intact
- Intellectual property
- Intercourse
- Interment vs. internment
- Intermural, intramural and extramural
- Internal vs eternal
- Internal vs infernal
- Internet of things
- Internet (capitalization)
- Intern vs inter
- Interpretative vs. interpretive
- Interrobang and interabang
- Interview with Abed Elmansur
- Interview with Arthur Plotnik
- Interview with Bethany Keeley
- Interview with Betty Birner
- Interview with Bill Walsh
- Interview with Blair Bolles
- Interview with Constance Hale
- Interview with Craig Silverman
- Interview with Gretchen McCulloch
- Interview with James Harbeck
- Interview with John McIntrye
- Interview with Jonathon Owen
- Interview with Lisa McLendon
- Interview with Merrill Perlman
- Interview with Mignon Fogarty
- Interview with Pat O’Conner
- Interview with Peter Harvey
- Interview with Stan Carey
- Interview with Stephen Dodson
- Inter-, intra-
- Intimate vs intimate
- Inure vs enure
- Invalid vs invalid
- Invaluable vs. valuable
- Inveigh vs inveigle
- Invention vs intervention
- Inventive vs innovative
- Inveterate vs invertebrate
- Inviolable vs inviolate
- Invite (as a noun)
- In any way, shape or form
- In a bind
- In a heartbeat
- In a jiffy
- In a manner of speaking
- In a New York Minute
- In a nutshell
- In a pickle
- In a vacuum
- In clover
- In due course or in due time
- In excess of
- In fine fettle
- In hot water
- In kind
- In like Flynn
- In loco parentis
- In medias res
- In one ear and out the other
- In one’s element
- In over one’s head or over one’s head
- In point of fact or in fact or as a matter of fact
- In situ
- In spades
- In tall cotton and in high cotton
- In terms of
- In the affirmative
- In the ballpark and hit one out of the ballpark
- In the cards and on the cards
- In the course of
- In the doldrums
- In the hopper
- In the lap of luxury
- In the loop and out of the loop
- In the midst of
- In the midst vs in the mist
- In the nick of time
- In the offing
- In the pink
- In the process of
- In the red and in the black
- In the throes of
- In The Weeds
- In toto
- In two shakes of a lamb’s tail
- In vitro
- Ipso facto
- Irish twins
- Irk
- Ironic
- Ironical
- Irregardless
- Irregular plural nouns
- Irreversible bionomials
- Isometric
- Is Costed a Word? What is the Past Tense of Cost?
- Is it Flier or Flyer? What’s the Difference?
- Italics (when to italicize)
- Itchy feet
- Iteration
- Its vs. it’s
- It ain’t over till the fat lady sings
- It is what it is
- It takes a village
- It takes one to know one
- It takes two to tango
- It’s curtains for you
- It’s Greek to me and it’s all Greek to me
- It’s not rocket science
- It’s the thought that counts
- It’s a wash
- Ivory tower
- Ivy League
- I can live with that
- I or me
- I rest my case
- I wasn’t born yesterday
- I’ll eat my hat
J
- Jackalope
- Jackanapes
- Jackpot
- Jack-in-the-box
- Jack-o’-lantern and Halloween lantern
- Jaded
- Jalousie window vs louvre window
- Jam vs. jamb
- Janus-faced
- Jaundiced eye
- Jaywalking
- Jealousy vs envy
- Jejune
- Jeremiad
- Jersey vs guernsey
- Jet lag
- Jet set
- Jewelry vs. jewellery
- Jewel vs joule
- Je ne sais quoi
- Jiggery-pokery
- Jig vs gig
- Jilt vs gilt
- Jingle vs jangle
- Jingoism
- Jinx
- Jitney
- Johnny-come-lately
- Johnny-on-the-spot
- John Doe, Joe Bloggs and Fred Nerk
- John Hancock and John Henry
- Joie de vivre
- Joined at the hip and attached at the hip
- Join the club
- Jolly Roger
- Jones
- Joshing
- Jot or tittle
- Joyful and joyous
- Judgment vs. judgement
- Judicial vs. judicious
- Juggalo
- Juggernaut
- Jump or climb on the bandwagon
- Jump ship
- Jump the gun
- Jump the shark
- Jump through hoops
- Jump-start
- Junction vs. juncture
- Junkie vs. junky
- Junkyard dog
- Jury-rig, jerry-rig, jerry-built
- Just deserts vs. just desserts
- Juvenile vs juvenal
- Juxtapose
K
- Kafkaesque
- Kakistocracy
- Kaleidoscope
- Kangaroo court
- Kaput
- Katy bar the door
- Keeping up with the Joneses
- Keep an ear to the ground
- Keep a stiff upper lip
- Keep it under your hat
- Keep one’s head above water
- Keep on a short leash
- Keep someone posted
- Keep under wraps
- Keep your chin up
- Keep your eyes peeled and keep your eyes skinned
- Keep your shirt on and keep your hair on
- Kerfuffle vs brouhaha
- Kernel vs colonel
- Ketchup, catsup, catchup
- Keyed up
- Kibosh
- Kickoff vs. Kick-off vs. Kick Off
- Kick over the traces
- Kick the can down the road
- Kick-start
- Kill with kindness
- Kilroy was here
- King of the hill and king of the castle
- King’s ransom
- King’s X
- Kin vs ken
- Kiss off
- Kiss of death
- Kiss someone’s ring
- Kith and kin
- Kleenex vs tissue
- Kludge
- Klutz
- Knap vs nap
- Knave vs nave
- Kneeled vs knelt
- Knee-high to a grasshopper
- Knee-jerk, kneejerk
- Knee-slapper
- Knew vs new
- Knickers vs nickers
- Knighted vs benighted
- Knight in shining armor
- Knight vs night
- Knit vs nit
- Knit vs. knitted
- Knob vs nob
- Knocked for a loop and thrown for a loop
- Knock one for six
- Knock one over with a feather and knock one down with a feather
- Knock one’s socks off
- Knock on wood and touch wood
- Knock them dead or knock ’em dead
- Knock up
- Knock yourself out
- Knot, nought, naught or not
- Know vs no
- Know where the bodies are buried
- Know which side your bread is buttered on
- Knuckle down and buckle down
- Knuckle sandwich
- Knuckle under vs knuckle down
- Koan vs cone
- Kodak moment
- Kowtow
- Kryptonite
- Kudos
- K-pop
L
- Labeled vs. labelled
- Labor vs. labour
- Lab rat
- Lackadaisical
- Ladybug and ladybird
- Lagniappe
- Laid vs lade
- Lain vs lane
- Laird vs lord
- Lair vs layer
- Laissez-faire
- Lambaste
- Lambast vs. lambaste
- Lamb vs lam
- Lame duck
- Landlubber
- Landslide
- Land of milk and honey
- Land on one’s feet
- Lanyard
- Laps vs lapse
- LARP
- Lasagna vs. lasagne
- Lassitude, lethargy and languor
- Last names (plurals and possessives)
- Last resort
- Latchkey kid and latchkey child
- Later vs latter
- Lather vs lather
- Latitude vs longitude
- Latter vs ladder
- Latte art
- Laudable vs. laudatory
- Laughing stock
- Laugh up one’s sleeve
- Laundry list
- Lava vs magma
- Lay an egg
- Lay it on thick
- Lay of the land or lie of the land
- Lay out vs. layout
- Lay vs. lie
- Laze vs lase
- Lazy Susan
- La dolce vita
- Leach vs leech
- Lead vs lead
- Lead vs. lede
- Lead-pipe cinch
- Leak vs leek
- Leaned or leant
- Lean in
- Lean vs lien
- Leaped vs. leapt
- Leap of faith
- Leap year
- Learned vs. learnt
- Learn the ropes and know the ropes
- Leased vs least
- Leave in the lurch
- Leave no stone unturned
- Leave someone holding the bag
- Led vs. lead
- Leery vs leary
- Leet, leetspeak and 1337
- Leeway
- Leftover vs. left over
- Legal tender
- Legal vs legit
- Legislator vs legislature
- Legitimate vs legitimitize
- Lei
- Lended vs. lent
- Lend vs. loan
- Lentil vs lintel
- Leotard vs tights
- Lessen vs lesson
- Lesser or lessor
- Lest
- Letter Names in the English Alphabet and How to Spell Them
- Let bygone be bygones
- Let one’s guard down and drop one’s guard
- Let one’s hair down
- Let sleeping dogs lie
- Let the chips fall where they may
- Let’s vs lets
- Levee vs. levy
- Level playing field and level the playing field
- Leviathan
- Liable vs libel
- Liar vs lyre
- Liar vs. lier
- Libel vs. slander
- Licence vs. license
- Licker vs liquor
- Lickety-split
- Lick one’s wounds
- Licorice vs. liquorice
- Lieutenant
- Lieu vs loo
- Lie or lye
- Lifetime or life time
- Lightbulb moment
- Lighted vs. lit
- Lightening vs. lightning
- Lightning rod
- Light vs. lite
- Likable vs. likeable
- Like a bull in a china shop
- Like a bump on a log
- Like clockwork and as regular as clockwork
- Like gangbusters
- Like oil and water
- Like pulling teeth
- Like taking candy from a baby
- Lilliputian
- Limbo
- Limelight vs spotlight
- Linchpin vs. lynchpin
- Links vs lynx
- Lionize and lionise
- Lion’s share
- Lipid vs limpid
- Lip-sync and lip-synch
- Liquor vs liqueur
- Listserv
- List of 50+ English Suffixes With Examples & Worksheet
- Literally vs. figuratively
- Liter or litre vs litter
- Liter vs. litre
- Litmus test
- Little to No or Little to None
- Liveable or livable
- Live and let live
- Live off the fat of the land
- Live vs live
- Living the dream
- Living The Life Of Riley (Reilly)
- Llama vs lama
- Loaded for bear
- Load vs lode
- Loafs or loaves
- Loan vs lone
- Loath vs. loathe (vs. loth)
- Locavore
- Loch vs lock
- Lockdown
- Locks vs lox
- Lock out vs lockout
- Lock, stock and barrel
- Lodestar
- Logo
- Log In vs. Login
- Log in vs. log on
- Lonely vs. lonesome
- Lone wolf
- Longetivity vs. longevity
- Long in the tooth
- Long johns vs union suit and combination suit
- Long pig
- Looking over one’s shoulder
- Looks good on paper
- Look before you leap
- Look out vs. lookout (vs. look-out)
- Loonie or loony
- Loophole
- Loop de loop or loop the loop
- Loop vs loupe
- Loose vs. lose
- Loot vs lute
- Loquacious
- Lorem Ipsum
- Lorry
- Lose face and save face
- Lose one’s marbles
- Lose one’s shirt
- Lose the plot
- Lost in the shuffle
- Lothario
- Lots of vs a lot of
- Lovable vs. loveable
- Lovers’ lane
- Love is blind
- Love me, love my dog
- Lower the boom
- Lowlife
- Low man on the totem pole
- Low, lo or lowe
- Low-hanging fruit
- Low-key and lowkey
- Lo and Behold or Low and Behold
- Lucid vs lucent
- Luck of the draw
- Luddite
- Lukewarm
- Lumber vs lumbar
- Luminary vs luminaria
- Lustful vs. lusty
- Luxuriant vs. luxurious
- Lyme disease vs lime disease
- L’état, c’est moi
M
- Macabre
- Macaron vs. macaroon
- MacGyver
- Machiavellian
- Machine gun vs. machine-gun
- Mach vs mock
- Macintosh, mackintosh, McIntosh
- Maddening vs. madding
- Made vs maid
- Mad as a hatter
- Mad as a wet hen and mad as a hornet
- Magical realism
- Magic bullet and silver bullet
- Magnate vs. magnet
- Magnum opus
- Mail vs male
- Main, mane and Maine
- Maize vs maze
- Makeup, make-up or make up
- Make a clean breast of it and come clean
- Make do vs. make due
- Make ends meet and make both ends meet
- Make hay
- Make no bones about it
- Make or break and make or mar
- Malarkey
- Maleficent vs. malevolent
- Malfeasance, misfeasance and nonfeasance
- Mall vs maul
- Malware vs ransomware
- Mancession
- Maneuver vs. manoeuvre
- Manga vs anime
- Manic vs maniac
- Mannequin, manikin, or manakin
- Manner vs. manor
- Mansplain
- Manspreading
- Mantel vs. mantle
- Many happy returns
- Many vs. much
- Man does not live by bread alone
- Man of letters
- Man of the cloth
- Man’s best friend
- Mare vs mayor
- Marginalize or marginalise vs minimize or minimise
- Marinade vs. marinate
- Mark my words
- Mark vs marque
- Marquee vs marquis
- Marry vs. merry
- Marsala vs masala
- Marshal vs. martial
- Martin vs marten
- Mary Sue
- Mask vs masque
- Massage vs message
- Masterful vs. masterly
- Materiel vs. material
- Math vs. maths
- Matriculate vs graduate
- Matrix
- Matter of fact or matter-of-fact
- Matter of fact vs fact of the matter
- Maudlin vs modeling or modelling
- Maul vs. mull
- Maundy Thursday
- Maverick
- Maxima vs. maximums
- Maximise or Maximize
- Mayhap or mishap or snafu
- Mayonnaise vs. mayonaise
- May be or maybe
- McGuffin
- Mcjob
- Meager vs. meagre
- Mealy-mouthed
- Means
- Mean vs mien
- Meat, meet or mete
- Mea culpa
- Medal, meddle, metal, mettle
- Mediator vs. moderator
- Media vs. mediums
- Meeple
- Melted vs. molten
- Melting pot
- Meme
- Memento mori
- Mendacity vs mendicity
- Mensch
- Men in white coats
- Meretricious vs meritorious
- Meritorious vs maritorious
- Merry Christmas vs Happy Christmas
- Meta
- Metaphor
- Metaphoric vs. metaphorical
- Meteoroid, meteor, meteorite (and meteoric)
- Meter vs. metre
- Methinks
- Mewl vs mule
- Mexican standoff
- Me vs mi
- MIA
- Mice vs. mouses
- Mickey Finn and mickey
- Microaggression
- Microfinance, microcredit and microloan
- Microsoft Editor vs. Grammarly – Which is Better?
- Micro- vs macro-
- Mic drop
- Mic vs. mike
- Middle-of-the-road
- Midrift (midriff)
- Might as well
- Might vs mite
- Milieu
- Militant or terrorist
- Militate or mitigate
- Millennia vs millenniums
- Milquetoast vs milktoast
- Mince vs mints
- Mince words
- Mind over matter
- Mind vs mined
- Mind your own beeswax
- Miner vs minor
- Minima vs. minimums
- Minimize vs minimise
- Minimum vs minimal
- Minks vs. minx
- Mint condition
- Minuet vs minute
- Minuscule vs. miniscule
- Minute VS Minute
- Minutia, minutiae
- Mirandize
- Mischievous vs. mischievious
- Misery loves company
- Misinformed vs. uninformed
- Misnomer
- Misogyny and misandry
- Misology vs mixology
- Missed vs mist
- Misspell
- Mixed bag
- Mixtape
- Moat vs mote
- Mobile, mobile, or Mobile
- Mobilize vs mobilise
- Mob justice and mob rule
- Mob or demob
- Modeling vs. modelling
- Modern
- Mode vs mowed
- Modus operandi (m.o, MO)
- Mogul
- Mojo
- Mold vs. Mould – Meaning & Usage Examples
- Mollusc vs. mollusk
- Mollycoddle
- Molotov cocktail
- Molt vs. moult
- Momager
- Momentarily
- Mom vs mom
- Monday morning quarterback and armchair quarterback
- Monetize vs demonetize
- Money is no object
- Money-grabbing vs. money-grubbing
- Monied vs. Moneyed
- Monkey business
- Monkey on one’s back
- Montage
- Moonlight
- Moonshine
- Moose vs mousse
- Moose vs. mooses
- Moot vs. mute
- Mop the floor with someone and wipe the floor with someone
- Morality vs mortality
- Moral vs morale
- Moratorium
- Morays vs. mores
- Morbid vs moribund
- Moreso
- More bang for one’s buck and bigger bang for one’s buck
- More Than One Way To Skin A Cat
- More vs moor
- Moribund
- Morning vs mourning
- Mortar board
- Mothball
- Motherhood and apple pie and mom and apple pie
- Mother lode
- Mother of all and granddaddy of all
- Motive vs motif
- Mouse and CAT
- Moustache vs. mustache (vs. mustachio)
- Mouthfuls
- Movable feast
- Movable vs. moveable
- Movers and shakers
- Move heaven and earth
- Move the goalposts and shift the goalposts
- Move the needle
- Mowed vs. mown
- Mr., Mrs., Ms. and Miss
- Muchly
- Much vaunted
- Muckamuck, mucky-muck and muckety-muck
- Muckraking
- Mucous vs. mucus
- Muddy the waters
- Mudslinging
- Muggle
- Mulligan
- Multitask
- Mumbo jumbo
- Mum’s the word
- Murderers’ row
- Murphy’s Law, Sod’s Law and Finagle’s Law
- Muscle vs mussel
- Mustard vs mustered
- Must of (must’ve)
- Mutually assured destruction or mutual assured destruction
- Mutually exclusive
- Muumuu
- Myriad
- My cup runneth over
- My dogs are barking
- My way or the highway
N
- Nail-biter
- Naked as a jaybird
- Namby-pamby
- Namesake
- Name-calling
- Nano-
- Nary a
- Nascent
- Nativity
- Naught vs. nought
- Nauseating vs. nauseous
- Naval vs. navel
- Navel-gazing
- Nay vs neigh
- Neandertal vs. neanderthal
- Neat as a pin
- Nebbish
- Nebula vs nebulous
- Necessity is the mother of invention
- Necktie party
- Neck and neck
- Neck of the woods
- Necropsy and autopsy
- Necrosis
- Needle vs nettle
- Need vs knead
- Need vs kneed
- Nefarious
- Negative prefixes
- Neighbor vs. neighbour
- Nemesis
- Neologism
- Nepotism
- Nerd, dork or geek
- Nest egg
- Net neutrality
- Neutralise vs neutralize
- Nevertheless vs nonetheless
- Never mind vs nevermind
- Newbie vs noob or n00b
- Newfangled
- News
- New vs gnu
- Ne’er-do-well
- NGO vs GMO
- Nib vs nub
- Nice vs gneiss
- Nickle-and-dime
- Nickname
- Nicks vs nix
- Niggle
- Night owl or early bird
- Nimby, nimbyism
- Nimrod
- Nip in the bud
- Nitpick
- Nitty-gritty
- Noblesse oblige
- Noble vs ignoble
- Nock vs knock
- Nocturnal vs diurnal
- Noel or nowel
- Noisome vs noisy
- Nomenclature
- None are or none is
- Nonfinite verbs
- Nonplussed
- Nonprofit vs. not-for-profit (vs. non-profit)
- Nonstarter
- Non compos mentis
- Non sequitur
- Normalcy vs. normality
- Nosebleed section
- Nose vs knows
- Nosy Parker
- Nothing is certain but death and taxes
- Nothing to sneeze at and not to be sneezed at
- Nothing ventured, nothing gained
- Notwithstanding
- Not all it’s cracked up to be
- Not by a long shot and not by a long chalk
- Not hardly
- Not one’s cup of tea
- Not playing with a full deck
- Not un-
- Not worth a plugged nickel and not worth a plug nickel
- Nouns
- Nouns as adjectives
- Nowadays, anymore, or any more
- Noxious vs obnoxious
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
- No guts, no glory
- No harm no foul
- No holds barred
- No horse in the race and no dog in the fight
- No ifs, ands, or buts
- No love lost
- No man is an island
- No man’s land
- No news is good news
- No one vs. noone (vs. no-one)
- No pain, no gain vs no pain, no game
- No two ways about it
- No-brainer
- Nuclear family and extended family
- Nullify
- Number vs number
- Number vs numeral
- Numerals
- Numinous vs luminous
- Nunchucks
- Nun vs none
- Nutriment or nutrition
O
- Oar, ore and or
- Oases
- Objects in Grammar – How to Identify (With Examples)
- Object lesson
- Object vs object
- Obliged vs. obligated
- Oblique
- Obsequious
- Observance vs. observation
- Obsolescent vs. obsolete
- Obstreperous
- Ocher or ochre vs okra
- Ocher vs. ochre
- Octopi vs. octopuses
- Ode vs owed
- Odious vs odorous
- Odor vs. odour
- Oeuvre
- Offal vs awful
- Offence vs. offense
- Offhand
- Off of
- Off one’s rocker and off one’s trolley
- Off the cuff
- Off the grid or off-grid
- Off the hook
- Off the rack and off the peg
- Off the record vs not for attribution
- Off the wall
- Off-kilter and out of kilter
- Oftentimes
- Oh vs owe
- Oh well
- OK vs. okay
- Oldie but goodie
- Old as Methuselah
- Old chestnut
- Old Glory
- Old habits die hard
- Old hat
- Old wives’ tale vs old wise tale
- Old-fashioned or old fashion
- Olfactory vs old factory
- Oligarchy vs monarchy
- Olive branch
- Ombré ombre or hombre
- Omelet vs. omelette
- Omnibus vs ombudsman
- Onboard vs. on board
- Once bitten, twice shy
- Once in a blue moon
- Once in a lifetime vs once-in-a-lifetime
- Oneself vs. One’s Self – Definitions and Usage
- One and the same, one in the same
- One fell swoop
- One for the books
- One for the money, two for the show
- One good turn deserves another
- One hand washes the other
- One’s eyes are bigger than one’s stomach
- One’s name is mud
- One-hit wonder
- One-horse town
- One-size-fits-all
- One-time vs. onetime
- One-trick pony
- One-upmanship
- Online vs. on-line
- Onomatopoeia
- Onus
- On accident vs by accident
- On a lark
- On a shoestring and shoestring budget
- On a tear
- On a wing and a prayer
- On cloud nine
- On fleek
- On one’s high horse
- On one’s last legs
- On pins and needles
- On steroids
- On tenterhooks
- On the back burner
- On the back foot
- On the ball
- On the bubble
- On the clock
- On the contrary
- On the fence
- On the fly
- On the fritz
- On the house
- On the lam
- On the q.t.
- On the radar, off the radar, under the radar, below the radar, and above the radar
- On the rocks
- On the ropes
- On the same page
- On the spur of the moment
- On the straight and narrow
- On the stump and stump speech
- On the up and up
- On the wagon, off the wagon
- On the wrong foot and on the right foot
- On your mark, get set, go! and ready, set, go!
- Oompa Loompa
- Open and shut case
- Open season
- Open secret
- Operationalise or operationalize
- Opossum vs. possum
- Oppress, repress, suppress
- Op-ed
- Oracle vs auricle
- Oral vs. verbal
- Ordinance vs. ordnance
- Organise vs. organize
- Orientate
- Origin or origins
- Ornery
- Orthopedic vs. orthopaedic
- Other fish to fry and bigger fish to fry
- Ought vs aught
- Ours is not to reason why; ours is but to do and die
- Ouster
- Outset vs onset
- Outside of
- Outsource
- Out and out
- Out of left field
- Out of one’s league
- Out of pocket
- Out of sight, out of mind
- Out of sorts
- Out of the blocks and off the blocks
- Out of the blue
- Out of the blue vs out of the woodwork
- Out of the frying pan and into the fire
- Out of the woods
- Out of whole cloth
- Overbilled vs overbuild
- Overdo vs. overdue
- Overlook vs look over
- Overly
- Overnight vs. over night
- Overrate vs overate
- Oversees vs overseas
- Oversee vs overlook
- Overtake, take over and takeover
- Overthink vs think over
- Overtime vs over time
- Overtones vs. undertones
- Over a barrel
- Over the hill
- Over the hump
- Over the top
- Over- and under- (prefixes)
- Own up
- Oxford comma
- Oxymoron
- Oxymorons
- O vs. oh
P
- Packed vs pact
- Packs vs pax
- Paddy wagon
- Paean, paeon, peon
- Paid vs. payed
- Pail vs pale
- Paint the town red and paint the town
- Pain vs pane
- Pair vs. pare vs. pear
- Pajamas vs. pyjamas
- Palate, palette, pallet
- Pale in comparison
- Palindrome (poetry)
- Pall vs. pallor
- Palpable vs palatable
- Pander vs ponder
- Panhandle
- Pan out
- Paper tiger
- Paper-thin
- Parade float
- Parallel vs perpendicular
- Paralympics
- Paralyse vs. paralyze
- Parameter vs perimeter
- Paramount vs. tantamount
- Paraphernalia
- Pardon my French and excuse my French
- Parentheses vs brackets
- Parentheses (Round Bracket) Use With Examples
- Pariah vs piranha
- Parish vs perish
- Parkour
- Parlay vs. parley
- Parlor or parlour
- Parody vs parity
- Parol vs parole
- Parricide vs. patricide
- Parsimony
- Participial prepositions
- Parting shot
- Part and parcel
- Par excellence
- Par for the course
- Passable or passible
- Passed vs. past
- Passerbys or passersby
- Passing strange
- Pass muster
- Pass muster vs pass mustard
- Pass the buck, the buck stops
- Pass the torch and hand on the torch
- Pass with flying colors
- Pasteurize vs pasteurise
- Paste vs paced
- Pastiche vs pistachio
- Pastime vs past time
- Pasty vs pasty
- Past master
- Patent leather
- Paten vs patten
- Pathetic vs apathetic
- Path of least resistance and line of least resistance.
- Patience vs patients
- Patient zero
- Patois
- Patriot
- Patriotism vs nationalism
- Patsy
- Patty vs paddy
- Paucity
- Pause vs paws
- Payback vs. pay back
- Pay it forward
- Pay lip service
- Pay one’s dues
- Pay one’s respects
- Pay the piper
- Pay through the nose
- Peaceable vs. peaceful
- Peace of mind, piece of (one’s) mind
- Peak vs. peek vs. pique
- Peal vs. peel
- Peanut gallery
- Pearls of wisdom
- Pearl vs purl
- Pea vs pee
- Peccadillo
- Pecking order
- Peckish
- Pedal vs. peddle vs. petal
- Pediatric or paediatric
- Pediment vs impediment
- Peeping Tom
- Peer vs pier
- Pejorative
- Pell-mell
- Penal vs. penile
- Penance vs pittance
- Penchant vs pension
- Pendant vs. pendent
- Penny for your thoughts
- Penny wise and pound foolish
- Penny-pinching
- Pentagon
- Pentimento vs pimento or pimiento
- Penultimate
- People vs. persons
- People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones
- Peplum vs pablum
- Percent vs. per cent
- Perchance
- Peremptory vs pre-emptory
- Perfect storm
- Perfunctory vs peremptory
- Periodic vs. periodical
- Period Punctuation Rules and Examples
- Peripatetic
- Perjury
- Perk vs perq
- Permaculture
- Permit vs permit
- Pernickety vs. persnickety
- Perpetrate vs perpetuate
- Perquisite vs. prerequisite (vs. requisite)
- Persecute vs. prosecute
- Personage vs parsonage
- Personality vs personage vs persona
- Personal vs personable
- Personal vs personnel
- Persona non grata
- Personification vs anthropomorphism
- Perspective vs. prospective
- Persuade vs dissuade
- Peruse
- Pervert vs subvert
- Per diem
- Per se
- Per vs purr
- Peter out
- Petrifaction vs. petrification
- Petroglyph vs pictograph
- Pettifogger
- Petulant vs impetuous
- Pet peeve
- Pet vs. petted
- Pharaoh or Pharoah
- Phenomena, phenomenon
- Phial vs. vial (vs. vile)
- Philippic
- Philly vs filly
- Phishing
- Phone it in
- Phony vs. phoney
- Phosphene
- Phosphorous vs. phosphorus
- Photobomb
- Photogenic vs photographic
- Photo shoot vs. photoshoot
- Phrasal adjectives
- Phrasal prepositions
- Phrasal verbs
- Phrases
- Phubbing
- Picaresque vs. picturesque
- Picayune
- Pica vs pika
- Picks, pix or pyx
- Pickup vs. Pick Up (vs. Pick-up)
- Pidgin vs pigeon
- Piebald, skewbald, pinto or paint
- Piecemeal
- Pièce de résistance
- Piece of cake
- Piece vs peace
- Pied Piper
- Pie hole
- Pie in the sky
- Pie vs pi
- Pigeonhole
- Piggyback
- Piggy bank
- Pig in a poke
- Pig Latin
- Pincer vs. pincher
- Pink slip
- Pin money
- Pipe down and pipe up
- Pipe dream
- Piping hot
- Pipsqueak
- Pissant
- Pistol vs pistil
- Pitchblende
- Pitcher vs picture
- Pitch-perfect and picture-perfect
- Pithy
- Pith vs pit
- Pit stop
- Pixelated vs. pixilated
- Placate vs placket
- Placebo vs nocebo
- Place card vs placard
- Plainclothes
- Plaintiff vs defendant
- Plaintive vs plaintiff
- Plain sailing, smooth sailing, and clear sailing
- Plain vs. plane
- Plait vs plate
- Plantar vs planter
- Plan B
- Plaque vs plack
- Plateaus vs. plateaux
- Platypi vs platypuses
- Playing Russian roulette
- Playing with fire
- Playwright vs. playwrite
- Play by ear
- Play cat and mouse and play a game of cat and mouse
- Play fast and loose
- Play for keeps
- Play gooseberry
- Play hardball
- Play one’s cards right
- Play possum
- Play second fiddle
- Pleaded vs. pled
- Please vs pleas
- Pleather and Naugahyde
- Plenary vs preliminary
- Plenitude vs. plentitude
- Plethora
- Pleural vs plural
- Plough vs. plow
- Plug-ugly vs pug-ugly
- Plum vs. plumb
- Plurals of nouns ending in ‘Y’
- Plutocrat vs autocrat
- Podcast
- Podium vs lectern
- Poetic justice
- Poetry vs prose
- Pogrom vs genocide
- Point in time
- Point of no return
- Point of view, standpoint, viewpoint
- Point-blank
- Poisoning the well
- Poisonous vs venomous
- Poker face
- Polemic vs. polemical
- Pole vs poll
- Polish vs polish
- Polite company and polite society
- Politics
- Polka dot
- Pollyanna
- Polygamy vs. polygyny vs. polyandry
- Poly- vs mono-
- Pompom vs. pompon (vs. pom-pom etc.)
- Pomp and circumstance
- Ponderous
- Pony up
- Ponzi scheme and Ponzi game
- Poof, pouf or pouffe
- Pooh-bah or poobah
- Pooh-poohed
- Pooped
- Poor sport, sore loser and sore winner
- Poor-mouth vs bad-mouth
- Poo vs. pooh
- Popinjay
- Poppycock
- Populace vs. populous
- Pop culture
- Pop one’s clogs
- Pop the question
- Porch vs veranda or verandah
- Pore over vs. pour over
- Pore, pour or poor
- Pork barrel
- Portend vs pretend
- Portend vs. portent
- Port vs. starboard
- Poseur vs poser
- Possibility vs probability
- Poster child
- Postpositive adjectives
- Post-truth
- Potato and potatoes, tomato and tomatoes
- Potentiality
- Potluck
- Potter’s field
- POTUS
- Pound of flesh
- Pour cold water on and throw cold water on
- Powwow
- Pox
- Practicable vs. practical
- Practical joke
- Practice vs. practise
- Practice what you preach
- Pragmatism
- Praise vs prays
- Praise vs preys
- Pram, baby carriage and baby buggy
- Prank call or crank call
- Pray vs. prey
- Preaching to the choir
- Prebiotic vs probiotic
- Precedence vs precedents
- Precede vs. proceed
- Precipitate vs precipitous
- Precocious vs precious
- Predicate Nominative – Definition and Examples
- Predict vs predicate
- Predominantly and predominately
- Premier vs. premiere
- Prepositions
- Preposition vs. proposition
- Prescient vs present
- Prescribe vs. proscribe
- Present company excepted vs present company accepted
- Present progressive tense
- Present vs present
- Preserve vs persevere
- President (capitalization)
- Press the flesh
- Presumptive vs. presumptuous
- Pretence vs. pretense
- Pretentious vs portentous
- Preternatural vs supernatural
- Preventative vs. preventive
- Previous vs. prior
- Price gouging
- Pride comes before a fall and pride goeth before a fall
- Pride vs pried
- Primal scream
- Prima donna
- Prime the pump
- Primrose path
- Principal vs. principle
- Prioritize vs prioritise
- Private eye and gumshoe
- Privatization vs nationalization
- Privy
- Prize, prise or pries
- Proactive
- Problematic vs. problematical
- Procrastinate
- Prodigal and prodigy
- Prodigal son
- Prodigious vs prolific
- Produce vs produce
- Profit vs prophet
- Progeny vs prodigy
- Program vs. programme
- Project vs project
- Proliferate vs profligate
- Promise vs premise
- Promulgate vs propagate
- Prom and The Proms
- Prone, prostrate, supine
- Pronouns
- Proof by example
- Proof is in the pudding
- Prophecy vs. prophesy
- Propitiate vs expiate
- Proportional vs. proportionate
- Proprietary vs propitiatory
- Props
- Prorogue vs prolong
- Prostate vs. prostrate
- Pros vs prose
- Protagonist vs. Antagonist – Definitions and Examples
- Protean vs protein
- Protégé
- Proved vs. proven
- Proverbial vs figurative
- Proverb vs adage
- Providence vs province
- Province vs provenance
- Proviso
- Prowritingaid Review: Is It the Best Editing Program?
- Proximal vs proximate
- Psalter vs salter
- Pseudo
- Psychiatry vs. psychology
- Psychopath vs. sociopath
- Psych vs. psyche
- Pugnacious
- Pulling one’s leg
- Pullout, pull-out, pull out
- Pull a fast one
- Pull one’s punches
- Pull one’s weight
- Pull out all the stops
- Pull rank
- Pull strings
- Pull the plug
- Pull the rug out from under
- Pull the wool over someone’s eyes
- Pull up stakes and up sticks
- Punch list
- Punctilious vs punctual
- Pundit
- Pupal vs pupil
- Puppy love or poppy love
- Pure as the driven snow
- Purple prose
- Purposely vs. purposefully
- Purpose vs porpoise
- Pushing up daisies
- Push someone’s buttons
- Push the envelope
- Pusillanimous
- Pussy vs pussy
- Putative vs punitive
- Putrefaction
- Putting vs putting
- Putty in one’s hands
- Put a damper on
- Put a flea in someone’s ear vs put a bug in someone’s ear
- Put one’s best foot forward
- Put one’s cards on the table and lay one’s cards on the table
- Put one’s finger on something
- Put on heirs or airs
- Put on hold
- Put on ice
- Put something on the map
- Put the cart before the horse
- Put though the wringer vs put through the ringer
- Put two and two together
- Put up or shut up
- Put up with
- Put up your dukes
- Put words in someone’s mouth
- Put, strap, or tie on the feedbag and put, strap, or tie on the nosebag
- Pyrrhic victory
- p.d.q.
Q
- Qua
- Quackery
- Quaff vs coif
- Qualitative vs. qualitive
- Qualitative, quantitative
- Quality time
- Qualm vs calm
- Quantitative vs. quantitive
- Quantum
- Quarts vs quartz
- Quash vs. squash
- Quasi
- Quay
- Quelch vs. squelch
- Query vs inquiry
- Question Mark Grammar & Punctuation Rules
- Que sera sera
- Quicksilver
- Quid pro quo
- Quince vs quints
- Quire vs choir
- Quisling
- Quiver vs quaver
- Quixotic
- Quotation Marks
- Quote vs quotation
- Quote-unquote
- Quo warranto
R
- Rabble-rouser
- Racket vs. racquet
- Rack one’s brain
- Rack vs. wrack
- Raconteur
- Radar, sonar, and lidar
- Radical
- Radical vs radicle
- Rah vs raw
- Rail vs rale
- Raining cats and dogs
- Rain, reign and rein
- Raise Cain
- Raise one’s hackles and get one’s hackles up
- Raise the bar
- Raise vs rays
- Raise vs raze
- Raise vs rise
- Raison d’etre
- Rake over the coals and haul over the coals
- Rambunctious
- Ramrod straight and ramrod through
- Ramshackle
- Rancor vs ranker
- Rancor vs. rancour
- Randomize vs randomise
- Random act of kindness
- Rank and file
- Rappel vs. repel
- Rapt vs. wrapt
- Rap on the knuckles
- Raring to
- Rational or rationale
- Rat race
- Ravaging vs. ravishing
- Raven vs raven
- Raven vs ravenous
- Razzle-dazzle and razzmatazz
- Razzmatazz or razzamatazz
- Reactionary vs. reactive
- Read between the lines
- Read the fine print and read the small print
- Read the riot act
- Read the room
- Read vs read
- Realise vs. realize
- Realty vs reality
- Real-time vs. Real Time
- Reappropriate
- Rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic
- Rebel vs rebel
- Rebuke vs refute
- Rebus
- Rebut vs refute
- Recant vs recount
- Recede vs reseed
- Receipt vs recipe
- Recent vs. resent
- Recognize vs recognise
- Reconnoiter
- Record vs record
- Recur vs. reoccur
- Recuse vs excuse
- Redact vs retract
- Redneck vs hick vs hillbilly
- Redoubt
- Redress vs readdress
- Red carpet
- Red flag
- Red herring
- Red tape
- Red vs read
- Red-letter day
- Reed vs read
- Reef vs wreath
- Reek vs wreak
- Referendum
- Reforested wood
- Refugee vs immigrant
- Refuse vs refuse
- Regard vs. regards
- Regift
- Regimen vs regiment
- Regime vs. regimen
- Regrettable vs. regretful
- Regulate vs relegate
- Reindeer or caribou
- Reinvent the wheel
- Rejig vs. rejigger
- Relative pronouns
- Relevance vs. relevancy
- Reluctant vs reticent
- Remunerate vs. renumerate
- Renascence and renaissance
- Rend or rent
- Renege vs rescind
- Repair vs reparation
- Repatriation vs reputation
- Repeal vs repeel
- Repel vs. repulse
- Repertoire or repertory
- Repetition vs repetitiveness
- Repetitive vs redundant
- Represent vs represent
- Repudiate and refudiate
- Repudiate vs refute
- Repugnant vs pungent
- Reputedly vs reportedly
- Repute vs refute
- Requiem
- Resemble vs reassemble
- Resent vs resent
- Resign vs re-sign
- Resilience vs. resiliency
- Resister vs resistor
- Resolve vs solve
- Respective, respectively
- Restaurateur vs. restauranteur
- Restitution vs retribution
- Restive
- Restrictive and nonrestrictive
- Restrict vs constrict
- Rest on one’s laurels
- Rest vs wrest
- Résumé
- Retard
- Retch vs. wretch
- Retcon
- Retrograde vs anterograde or antegrade
- Retronym
- Retrospect vs introspect
- Reverent vs reverend
- Reverso Grammar Review
- Review vs. revue
- Re-create vs. recreate
- Rhetorical question
- Rhyme or reason
- Rhyme vs rime
- Ridded
- Ride on someone’s coattails and coattail effect
- Ride roughshod and run roughshod
- Ride shotgun and call shotgun
- Rife vs. ripe
- Riffle vs rifle
- Riffraff
- Riffraff vs riprap
- Riff vs. rift
- Righten
- Right off the bat
- Right, rite or write
- Right-of-way
- Right-side up
- Rigmarole
- Rigor mortis
- Ringleader
- Rings a bell
- Ring vs. wring
- Riposte vs repost
- Riptide, rip current or undertow
- Rip-off or rip off
- Rise Like A Phoenix From The Ashes
- Risky vs risqué
- Rite of passage
- Rivaled/rivaling vs. rivalled/rivalling
- Road hog
- Road kill or roadkill
- Road rage
- Road rash and gravel rash
- Road vs rode
- Roam vs Rome
- Robot, android or droid
- Rob Peter to pay Paul
- Rock the boat
- Rock ‘n’ roll, rock and roll, rock’n’roll, etc.
- Rogue vs. rouge
- Roil vs royal
- Role vs. roll
- Rollout vs. roll out
- Rollover vs. roll over
- Roll up one’s sleeves
- Roman-Ã -clef
- Rood vs rude
- Roofs vs. rooves
- Rookie
- Roommate, room mate or room-mate
- Root vs. route vs. rout
- Rose-colored glasses
- Rotate or revolve
- Rotund vs rotunda
- Rot vs wrought
- Round robin
- Rouse vs rows
- Roux, rue or roué
- Rows vs rose
- Row vs row
- Royal “we”
- RSVP
- Rubberneck
- Rubenesque
- Rub someone the wrong way and rub someone up the wrong way
- Rub someone’s nose in it
- Rude vs rued
- Ruffle someone’s feathers
- Ruff vs rough
- Rule of thumb
- Rummy
- Rumor vs roomer
- Rumor vs. rumour
- Runaway vs. run away
- Rung vs wrung
- Running on empty and running on fumes
- Run it up the flagpole
- Run of the mill and run-of-the-mill
- Run out the clock
- Run rings around someone and run circles around someone
- Run the gamut vs run the gauntlet
- Run-on sentences
- Rye vs wry
S
- Sabbatical vs sabbath
- Saccharin vs. saccharine
- Sachet vs sashay
- Sackcloth and ashes
- Sacred cow
- Sacrilege, sacrilegious
- Sac vs sack
- Sadism, masochism and sadomasochism
- Safe-deposit box
- Said
- Said the actress to the bishop
- Sail vs sale
- Salacious
- Salad days
- Salient vs salience
- Saltwater vs. salt water
- Salt of the earth
- Salubrious vs lugubrious
- Salvage vs selvage or selvedge
- Same difference
- Same old same old
- Samovar vs scimitar
- Sanatorium vs sanatarium
- Sanctimonious vs sanctify
- Sanction
- Sangfroid
- Sanguine vs exsanguinate
- Sang froid
- Sang vs sung
- Sanitise vs sanitize
- Sank vs. sunk
- Sans
- Sarcasm
- Sarcophagus
- Sarcophagus vs mausoleum
- Sari vs sorry
- Sartorial vs satirical
- Satire vs satyr
- Satisficing vs satisfying
- Savanna vs. savannah
- Savant vs servant
- Saved by the bell
- Save one’s bacon
- Save something for a rainy day
- Savior vs. saviour
- Savoir faire
- Savor vs saver
- Savvy
- Sawed vs sod
- Sawing logs and sawing wood
- Say cheese
- Say one’s peace vs piece
- Say when
- Scam or sham
- Scapegoat or escape goat
- Scared vs scarred
- Scarfs vs. scarves
- Scatological
- Scavenger hunt
- Scavenger, scavenge
- Sceptic vs septic
- Sceptic vs. skeptic
- Schadenfreude
- Schema or schematic
- Schizophrenia as an adjective
- Schmooze and shmooze
- Schmuck versus putz
- Scintilla
- Scion
- Scissors
- Scofflaw
- Scorched earth policy
- SCOTUS
- Scot-free
- Scraping the bottom of the barrel
- Scrapped vs scraped
- Scratch the surface
- Screed
- Screwball
- Scribens Review
- Scrimp vs skimp
- Scrip vs script
- Scrooge
- Scrumdiddlyumptious
- Scrummy
- Scuba
- Scuffle
- Scull vs skull
- Sculpture vs sculptor
- Scuttlebutt
- Seam vs seem
- Sear vs. seer vs. sere
- Seasonable vs seasonal
- Seasons (capitalization)
- Seas, sees or seize
- Sea change
- Secede vs. succeed
- Second string
- Second that emotion or notion or motion
- Second wind
- Second-guess
- Secret Santa
- Secret vs. secretive
- Secular vs sacred
- Security blanket
- Sedimentary vs sedentary
- Sediment vs sentiment
- Sedition vs sedation
- Seen vs scene
- See a man about a dog and see a man about a horse
- See eye to eye
- See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil
- See vs sea
- Segue vs Segway
- Seldomly
- Selfie
- Self vs self
- Self-quarantine vs self-isolation
- Selling like hotcakes
- Semicolon
- Seminal
- Semi-, hemi-, and demi-
- Semper fidelis
- Sensational vs sensationalistic
- Senses vs census
- Sensual vs. sensuous
- Sentience vs sapience
- Sentient
- Sentient vs sentiment
- Separate vs separate
- Separate vs seperate
- Sepulcher, crypt, catacomb or mausoleum
- Sequacious
- Sequins vs sequence
- Seraphic
- Serf vs surf
- Series
- Serif vs seraph
- Serigraph vs lithograph
- Serious vs sirius
- Service (as a verb)
- Serviette or napkin
- Servitude vs certitude
- Set Up vs. Setup vs. Set-up
- Sever vs severe
- Sewer vs sewer
- Sew vs. sow
- Shaggy-dog story
- Shake a leg
- Shake one’s head vs nod one’s head
- Shake vs sheikh
- Shall vs. will
- Shamble, shambolic
- Shame vs ashamed
- Shanghai (as a verb)
- Shape up or ship out
- Sharable vs. shareable
- Shard or sherd
- Share and share alike vs per stirpes
- Sharp as a tack
- Shat vs. shitted
- Shaved vs. shaven
- Shear vs. sheer
- Sheath vs. sheathe
- Shed vs. shedded
- Shelf vs. shelve
- Shellac, shellack
- Shell game
- Shell out
- Shell-shocked
- Shenanigans
- Sherbert vs. sherbet
- Shill vs chill
- Shill vs shell
- Shined vs. shone
- Shiplap
- Ships passing in the night
- Shiv
- Shoe vs shoo
- Shone vs shown
- Shooting fish in a barrel
- Shooting the messenger and don’t shoot the messenger
- Shoot oneself in the foot
- Shoot the breeze
- Shoo-in
- Shopping cart or buggy
- Shop till you drop
- Shore up
- Shore vs sure
- Short shrift
- Shotgun approach and scattershot approach
- Shotgun vs rifle
- Shotgun wedding
- Should Earth Be Capitalized?
- Should have, should’ve or should of
- Shoveled/shoveling vs. shovelled/shovelling
- Showboat
- Showrunner
- Show of hands
- Show one’s cards and tip one’s hand
- Show one’s true colors
- Shrinking violet
- Shriveled/shriveling vs. shrivelled/shrivelling
- Shtick
- Shuffle off this mortal coil
- Shutter vs. shudder
- Shut or close the barn door after the horse has bolted
- Shut-in
- Sic
- Sic semper tyrannis
- Sic vs. sick
- Side hustle
- Side vs sighed
- Sight vs. site
- Signet vs cygnet
- Significant other
- Sign up vs signup
- Sign vs sine
- Silence is golden
- Silicon vs. silicone
- Silva vs silver
- Silver lining
- Silver-tongued
- Silviculture
- Simile
- Simpatico
- Since vs because
- Since, sense and cense
- Sine die
- Sine qua non
- Singly vs singularly
- Sing for one’s supper
- Sink vs sync
- Sisyphean, Promethean or Herculean
- Site vs cite
- Sitting duck
- Sitting in the catbird seat
- Sitting on a powder keg
- Sit at the feet of someone
- Sit vs set
- Six of one, half a dozen of the other
- Six ways from Sunday
- Sizable or sizeable
- Skating on thin ice and on thin ice
- Skein vs scan
- Skeleton in the closet and skeleton in the cupboard
- Skid row vs skid road
- Skilful vs. skillful
- Skinflint
- Skort
- Skulduggery
- Skunkworks
- Slack vs slake
- Slam dunk
- Slap-happy
- Slave driver
- Slayed or slew
- Slay vs sleigh
- Sledge vs sludge
- Sled, sledge, sleigh and toboggan
- Sleep like a top
- Sleep with the fishes
- Sleight of hand
- Sleight vs slight
- Slipshod
- Slip of the tongue
- Slough vs slew
- Slough vs slough
- Slow and steady wins the race
- Slow vs sloe
- Slumgullion and goulash
- Smack of
- Small potatoes
- Smarmy
- Smartphone vs smart phone
- Smarty-pants and smarty-boots
- Smart alec and smart aleck
- Smelled vs. smelt
- Smell a rat
- Smite, smote, smitten
- Smithereens
- Smokey vs. smoky
- Smoke and mirrors
- Smoking gun
- Smooth vs. Smoothe vs. Smoothen
- Smorgasbord
- Snake oil, snake-oil salesman
- Snark
- Sneaked vs. snuck
- Snipe hunt
- Snitch
- Snobbery or snobbishness
- Soapbox
- Soared vs sword
- Soar vs sore
- Sob sister and sob story
- Soccer mom and hockey mom
- Social vs sociable
- Sojourn vs adjourn
- Solder vs soldier
- Soldiers, marines, airmen, sailors
- Sole vs soul
- Soliloquy vs monologue
- Solitaire and patience games
- Somber vs. sombre
- Somebody vs. someone
- Someday vs. some day
- Someplace vs. some place
- Somersault
- Something has legs
- Something smells fishy
- Sometime vs. some time
- Some odd
- Some vs sum
- Some way vs. someway
- Sooner rather than later
- Sophistry
- Sorbet
- Sorted vs sordid
- Sort of
- SOS and Mayday
- Sot vs sought
- Sounding board
- Sound bite
- Sound like a broken record
- Soup up
- Sour grapes
- Sow vs sow
- Sow wild oats
- So to speak
- Spaces between sentences
- Spade vs spayed
- Spake
- Spanish fly
- Spare the rod; spoil the child
- Spartan
- Spatter vs. splatter
- Spat or spitted
- Speaks volumes
- Speak for yourself
- Speak now or forever hold your peace
- Speak of the devil
- Speak to
- Speak truth to power
- Speak with a forked tongue
- Spearhead
- Speciality vs. specialty
- Species
- Specious vs spurious
- Speck vs spec
- Specter vs. spectre
- Spectra vs. spectrums
- Sped vs. speeded
- Spelled vs. spelt
- Spelling bee
- Spendthrift
- Spend a penny
- Spic and span vs spick and span
- Spiel
- Spiffy
- Spilled vs. spilt
- Spill the beans
- Spinster
- Spin a yarn
- Spin doctor
- Spin one’s wheels
- Spitballing
- Spite vs respite
- Spitz vs spits
- Spit and image vs. spitting image
- Split infinitives
- Split the difference
- Spoiled vs. spoilt
- Spoof
- Spoonerism vs malapropism
- Spoopy and creppy
- Spore vs spoor
- Spork
- Spouse vs espouse
- Spreaded
- Spruce up
- Spry
- Spur vs spurn
- Spur vs. spurn
- Square meal
- Squinch
- Stab in the back
- Stadia vs. stadiums
- Staff vs staph
- Staid vs stayed
- Stained glass
- Stair vs stare
- Stake vs steak
- Stalactite, stalagmite
- Stalking horse
- Stanch vs. staunch
- Standby vs. stand by
- Stand alone vs standalone
- Stand one’s ground and hold one’s ground
- Stand the test of time
- Stand up vs prop up
- Starry-eyed and stars in one’s eyes
- Start from scratch
- Start with a clean slate and wipe the slate clean
- Star-crossed
- State of the art
- Stationary vs. stationery
- Statue vs statute
- Status quo
- Statute of limitations
- Stat vs now
- Stave off
- Staycation
- Stay on top of
- Steal someone’s thunder
- Steal vs steel
- STEM
- Stem-winder or stemwinder
- Stent vs stint
- Step into the breach
- Step on someone’s toes
- Step up to the plate
- Step vs steppe
- Sticker shock
- Sticks and stones
- Sticktoitiveness
- Sticky fingers
- Stick a fork in it
- Stick one’s neck out
- Stick out like a sore thumb
- Stick to one’s guns and stand to one’s guns
- Stick to, stick by, or stick with
- Stick-in-the-mud
- Stigma, stigmas or stigmata
- Still waters run deep
- Stir the pot
- Stir up a hornets’ nest and stir up a hornet’s nest
- Stir-crazy
- Stockholm syndrome
- Stocking stuffer and stocking filler
- Stock vs stalk
- Stock, shares
- Stock-still
- Stolen vs stollen
- Stomping ground and stamping ground
- Stonewall
- Stone cold and stone-cold
- Stool pigeon
- Stop and smell the roses
- Storey vs. Story
- Straight A’s
- Straight from the horse’s mouth
- Straight from the shoulder
- Straight shooter
- Straight vs. strait
- Straitjacket
- Strait-laced
- Stratagem vs. strategy
- Strategy vs tactic
- Straw man and man of straw
- Straw that broke the camel’s back and the last straw
- Strike while the iron is hot
- Striped/striping vs stripped/stripping
- Strived, striven, strove
- Stroller or pushchair
- Strong suit and long suit
- Strop vs strap
- Stuffing vs dressing
- Stupefaction
- Style vs stile
- Sty vs stye
- Subconscious vs. unconscious
- Subject to vs subjected to
- Subject vs object
- Subject-verb agreement
- Subjugated vs subjected to
- Subjunctive mood
- Subordinating conjunctions
- Suborn
- Subpoena
- Substantial vs. substantive
- Subtext
- Subtle vs. subtil
- Sub rosa vs sub-rosa
- Sub vs infra
- Succor or succour vs sucker
- Suede vs swayed
- Suffice it to say
- Sugarcoat
- Sugar daddy
- Suite vs sweet
- Suit vs suite
- Sui generis
- Sulfur vs. sulphur
- Sulk vs skulk
- Summary vs. summery
- Summa cum laude or magna cum laude
- Summons and summonses
- Sunday driver
- Sunday vs sundae
- Sun vs son
- Supercilious
- Supermoon
- Supersede or supercede
- Superstorm
- Super vs supra
- Super vs ultra
- Supply and demand
- Supposably
- Supposed to
- Surely vs surly
- Surgeon vs sturgeon
- Surge vs serge
- Surplus vs surplice
- Surrogacy
- Surveil
- Suspect vs suspect
- Suspect, person of interest or perpetrator
- Sutler vs settler
- Svengali
- Swanning around and swanning about
- Swan song
- Swashbuckle
- Swatch vs swath
- Swath vs. swathe
- Swatting
- Sweat vs. sweated
- Sweeped or swept
- Sweep something under the rug and sweep something under the carpet
- Sweeten the pot
- Sweet tooth
- Swing for the fences
- Sword of Damocles
- Sycophant
- Symbolic vs symbiotic
- Symbol vs cymbal
- Synchronise or synchronize
- Synecdoche
- Synonyms
- Synonym vs cinnamon
- Systematic vs systematical
- Systematic vs. systemic
T
- Tabula rasa
- Tacit vs taciturn
- Tacks vs tax
- Tack vs. tact
- Tad bit vs tidbit
- Tailgating
- Tail vs. tale
- Tail wagging the dog
- Takeaway and takeout
- Taken aback
- Take at face value
- Take a back seat
- Take a bath
- Take a gander
- Take a hike
- Take a knee
- Take a powder
- Take a rain check
- Take a shine to
- Take a shot
- Take a toll and take its toll
- Take for granted or take for granite
- Take it or leave it
- Take no prisoners
- Take one’s chances
- Take over vs. takeover
- Take someone for a ride
- Take the bull by the horns and grab the bull by the horns
- Take the cake
- Take the Fifth and plead the Fifth
- Take the high road
- Take the mickey out of someone
- Take the reins
- Take to the cleaners
- Take with a grain of salt and take with a pinch of salt
- Talk a blue streak and curse a blue streak
- Talk is cheap
- Talk of the town
- Talk out of both sides of one’s mouth
- Talk to the hand
- Talk turkey
- Tamper vs temper
- Tanker vs tankard
- Taper vs tapir
- Tariff
- Taro vs tarot
- Tartar or tartare
- Tar and feather
- Tar baby
- Taser
- Tattletale vs telltale
- Taught vs taut
- Taught vs tot
- Taupe vs tope
- Tautology
- Taut vs taunt
- Teacher’s pet
- Team vs teem
- Tear vs tare
- Tear vs tear
- Tear vs tier
- Tease out
- Teas vs tease
- Tea vs tee
- Technicolor yawn
- Teeth vs. teethe
- Teetotaler, teetotaller
- Telegram vs. telegraph
- Tell it to the marines
- Temblor, tremblor or trembler
- Tempest in a teapot and storm in a teacup
- Temporal vs Templar
- Tempus fugit
- Tenant vs. tenet
- Tent vs tint
- Tenure vs tenor
- Terminate
- Tern vs turn
- Terra firma
- Terrific vs terrifying
- Terroir and terror
- Terza rima
- Testament vs. testimony
- Test the waters
- Tete-a-tete
- Textish
- Thanksgiving or Thanksgiving Day
- Than vs. then
- That or who
- That vs. which
- That which
- That’s all she wrote
- Theater vs. theatre
- Their, them, themselves, they (as singular pronouns)
- Their, there, they’re
- Them’s the breaks or brakes
- Therefore
- Therefore vs therefor
- There’s no free lunch
- There’s no time like the present
- Thesauri or thesaurusus
- The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree
- The apple of one’s eye
- The ball is in your court
- The be-all and end-all
- The big picture
- The birds and the bees
- The blind leading the blind
- The Bronx
- The clock is ticking
- The customer is always right
- The die is cast
- The dogs of war
- The end justifies the means
- The exception that proves the rule
- The face that launched a thousand ships
- The fair sex and the fairer sex
- The game is afoot
- The genie is out of the bottle
- The handwriting on the wall or the writing on the wall
- The Hill you Want to Die on Idiom Definition
- The jaws of life
- The jig is up and the game is up
- The jury is out
- The late
- The lesser of two evils
- The nature of the beast
- The penny dropped
- The pen is mightier than the sword
- The pick of the litter
- The pot calling the kettle black
- The quick and the dead
- The real McCoy
- The road less traveled
- The road to hell is paved with good intentions
- The rub
- The seven deadly sins
- The seven-year itch
- The squeaky wheel gets the grease
- The Straw Man Fallacy: Meaning and Examples
- The vs thee
- The whole megillah
- The world is one’s oyster
- The worm has turned
- The worse for wear
- The $64,000 question
- Think on one’s feet
- Think outside the box
- Third rail
- Third time’s the charm
- This ain’t my first rodeo
- Thong or flip-flop
- Thorn in one’s side and thorn in one’s flesh
- Thoroughbred vs purebred
- Tho, altho
- Thrall
- Three sheets to the wind
- Three-ring circus
- Threshold or threshhold
- Threw vs. through
- Throes vs throws
- Throne vs thrown
- Through and through or thru and thru
- Through vs. thru
- Throw a curveball and throw a curve
- Throw good money after bad
- Throw in the towel
- Throw one’s hat in the ring or toss one’s hat in the ring
- Throw or toss someone a bone
- Throw shade
- Throw the baby out with the bathwater
- Throw under the bus
- Thrust, thrusted
- Thumbs up and thumbs down
- Thumb one’s nose and cock a snook
- Thusly
- Thyme vs time
- Tickled pink
- Tic vs. tick
- Tidbit vs. titbit
- Tiddlywinks and tiddleywinks
- Tide over
- Tide someone over vs tied someone over
- Tide vs tied
- Tie the knot
- Till the cows come home
- Till, until, ’til
- Tilting at windmills
- Timber or timbre
- Timeout vs. time out
- Time heals all wounds
- Time waits for no man
- Timpanum, timpani, tympanum, tympani
- Tinder vs tender
- Tinker’s damn and tinker’s dam
- Tinseltown
- Tinsel vs tensile
- Tiny house and tiny home
- Tip of the iceberg
- Tip one’s hat and tip one’s cap
- Tire vs. tyre
- Titan vs tighten
- Title capitalization
- Title vs tidal
- Titter vs titer
- Titular
- Tit for tat
- Tmesis
- TMI
- Toad vs towed
- Toe the line
- Toe vs tow
- Toffee-nosed
- Toilette
- Toile vs toil
- Toile vs tulle
- Told vs tolled
- Tolerance vs. toleration
- Tole vs toll
- Tomayto, tomahto and potayto, potahto
- Tomfoolery
- Tommy John surgery
- Tongue-in-cheek
- Tongue-lashing
- Tongue-tied
- Tontine
- Ton vs. tonne
- Tool vs tulle
- Toot sweet
- Too big for one’s britches or breeches and too big for one’s boots
- Too many cooks spoil the broth
- Too many irons in the fire
- Too much of a good thing
- Topography vs. typography
- Top banana and second banana
- Top dog
- Torrent vs torrid
- Torturous vs. tortuous
- Tor vs tore
- Toss-up
- Totaled/totaling vs. totalled/totalling
- Touche or touché
- Touch and go
- Touch base
- Tough row to hoe
- Tough vs tuff
- Tourist trap
- Tour de force
- Tout
- Toward vs. towards
- Toweled or towelled
- Towhead
- Toxicology vs. toxology
- To a T
- To boot
- To cry wolf
- To err is human; to forgive, divine
- To harp on
- To hear crickets
- To make a long story short
- To say the least and to say the least of it
- To the bitter end
- To the hilt
- To the nines
- To the victor belong the spoils
- To vs. too
- To wit
- Track and field and athletics
- Track record
- Track vs tract
- Tractable vs trackable
- Tragedy vs travesty
- Trainer or trainor
- Training wheels vs stabilisers
- Traitor vs trader
- Translucent vs. transparent
- Transparent, translucent and opaque
- Transpire
- Transport vs. transportation
- Trap vs entrap
- Traveled/traveling vs. travelled/travelling
- Trawl vs. troll
- Treacle
- Treasurys
- Treatise vs treaties
- Treble vs. triple
- Trepidation
- Triage
- Trial by fire
- Trick or treat vs trick-or-treat
- Tried and true
- Trip the light fantastic
- Trochee
- Troglodyte
- Troika
- Trolling
- Trooper or trouper
- Troop vs. troupe
- Trope
- Truck with
- Truculent
- Trump card
- Trussed vs trust
- Trustee vs. trusty
- Tsk-tsk
- Tsunami vs tidal wave
- Tumor vs. tumour
- Tunneled, tunneling vs. tunnelled, tunnelling
- Turban vs turbine
- Turbid, turgid, torpid
- Turducken
- Turnabout is fair play
- Turncoat
- Turnkey vs turn key
- Turn a blind eye
- Turn heads and turn one’s head
- Turn over a new leaf
- Turn over vs turnover
- Turn the other cheek
- Turn the tables
- Turpitude vs turpentine
- Turtle, tortoise, terrapin
- Tussie-mussie vs nosegay
- Tutor vs Tudor
- Twee
- Tween
- Tween or teen
- Twelve days of Christmas
- Twiddle one’s thumbs
- Twist one’s arm
- Two can play at that game
- Two wrongs don’t make a right
- Two’s company, three’s a crowd
- Two-bit
- Two-time
- Types of Sentences With Examples –Â Declarative, Imperative, Exclamatory, and Interrogative
- T-shirt, t-shirt, tee-shirt, tee shirt
U
- Uber
- Ubiquitous
- Udder vs. utter
- Ugly duckling
- Ulterior motive
- Umbrage
- Unawares
- Uncle Sam
- Uncomparable adjectives
- Underdog
- Underlie or underline
- Underwater vs. under water
- Underway vs. under way
- Under false pretenses and under false pretences
- Under one’s belt
- Under one’s nose
- Under one’s breath
- Under someone’s thumb
- Under the auspices of
- Under the table
- Under the weather
- Undoubtably vs. undoubtedly
- Undo vs undue
- Unexceptionable vs unexceptional
- Unfamous or infamous
- Unionized vs unionized
- Union Jack
- Unique
- United States (plural or singular?)
- Unkempt, unkept
- Unknown quantity
- Unpack
- Unputdownable
- Unsung hero
- Until one is blue in the face
- Until the last dog is hung
- Untoward
- Unwitting vs unwilling
- Upfront vs. up front
- Uphill battle
- Upload vs download
- Upmost vs. utmost
- Upper crust
- Upper hand
- Upset the applecart
- Upshot
- Up and at ‘em vs up and Adam or atom
- Up in arms
- Up one’s sleeve and an ace up one’s sleeve
- Up the creek and up a creek
- Up to date
- Up to scratch
- Up to snuff
- Up to speed
- Urban legend and urban myth
- Urban vs urbane
- Urban, suburban and rural
- Used to
- Use Vs Utilize
- Usually always
- U.S. state demonyms
V
- Vacuous vs. vapid
- Vagabond and vagrant
- Vagina vs. vulva
- Vain, vein, and vane
- Valedictorian and salutatorian
- Valentine’s Day
- Vale, vail, or veil
- Vamoose
- Vanguard
- Variance vs variants
- Varied vs various
- Variety is the spice of life
- Variety vs varietal
- Vary vs very
- Vaudeville
- Vax
- Vegetarian vs vegan
- Venal vs venial
- Vent one’s spleen
- Veracity vs. voracity
- Verbatim vs paraphrase
- Verbiage
- Verbs
- Verklempt
- Vernacular
- Verses vs. versus
- Vertex vs. vortex
- Vertigo vs vertiginous
- Very
- Vested
- Veteran vs veterinarian
- Vice president (capitalization and hyphenation)
- Vice versa
- Vice vs. vise
- Vicious vs. viscous
- Vicissitude
- Victory lap and honour lap
- Vigilant vs vigilante
- Vigor, vigour and vigorous
- Vim and vigor
- Violation vs volition
- Viral vs virile
- Virgule
- Virtual reality
- Visor vs vizier
- Vis-a-vis
- Vitiate
- Vitriol vs vitreous
- Vittle vs vital
- Viz.
- Voicemail
- VoilÃ
- Voluptuous vs voluminous
- Vote with one’s feet
- Vouchsafe
- Vox populi
W
- Wack vs. whack
- Waddle vs. wattle
- Wade vs weighed
- Wagon vs. waggon
- Wainscot or chair rail
- Waist vs. waste
- Waiting in the wings
- Wait for the other shoe to drop
- Wait vs weight
- Waiver vs. waver
- Waive vs. wave
- Wake up and smell the coffee
- Wake vs awake
- Wake-up call
- Walking on eggshells
- Walk a mile in someone else’s shoes
- Walk vs wok
- Wallflower
- Wallop and pack a wallop
- Wander vs. wonder
- Wane, wax
- Wangle vs wrangle
- Wanton vs. wonton
- Want vs wont
- Ware, wear and where
- Warm the cockles of one’s heart
- Warn vs worn
- Warrantee vs. warranty
- Warts and all
- Wart vs wort
- Wary vs. weary
- Washed up or all washed up
- Wash one’s hands of
- Wassail
- Waste not, want not
- Was vs were
- Watch the birdie
- Waterloo or meet one’s waterloo
- Watershed moment
- Water under the bridge
- Watt vs what
- Wave the white flag
- Weakest link
- Weak vs week
- Wean vs ween
- Wear one’s heart on one’s sleeve
- Wear the trousers and wear the pants
- Weather vs whether
- Weaved, wove, woven
- Weaver vs weever
- Website vs. web page
- Web site vs. website
- Weekend
- Weekend vs weakened
- Weigh in
- Weir vs we’re
- Weld vs welled
- Well-being vs. Wellbeing vs. Well Being
- Well-heeled
- Welsh
- Wench vs winch
- Wend vs wind
- Were vs we’re
- Wet behind the ears
- Wet blanket
- Wet one’s whistle
- Wet vs. whet
- We’d vs weed
- We’ll vs wheel
- We’re not in Kansas anymore
- Whacks vs wax
- Whac-A-Mole
- Whale, wail or wale
- Whatnot
- What Does The Acronym A.K.A. or AKA Mean?
- What in tarnation
- What is Academic Writing? Common Types With Examples
- What is an Ellipsis and How to Use It (With Examples)
- What is a Participle? Huge List of Examples
- What is Proofreading?
- What’s the catch?
- Wheal or weal vs wheel
- Wheelhouse
- Wheel and deal
- Whence vs. from whence
- When all is said and done
- When it rains, it pours
- When pigs fly and pigs might fly
- When push comes to shove
- When the cat’s away the mice will play
- When the chips are down
- When the going gets tough, the tough get going
- Whereas
- Wherewithal
- Where there’s a will there’s a way
- Where the rubber meets the road
- Whet one’s appetite vs wet one’s appetite
- Which vs witch
- Whig vs wig
- While away vs. wile away
- While vs wile
- Whilst
- Whine vs wine
- Whinge
- Whiny, whiney, whinny, Whinney
- Whippersnapper
- Whipping boy
- Whipsaw
- Whirling dervish
- Whirl vs whorl
- Whir or whirr vs were
- Whiskey vs. whisky
- Whistle stop and whistle-stop tour
- Whistling past the graveyard
- Whitesmoke vs. Grammarly – Whitesmoke Review
- Whitewash
- White Christmas
- White elephant
- White lie
- Whiz, whizz, wiz
- Whoa vs woe
- Whoever vs. whomever
- Whole ball of wax
- Whole kit and caboodle
- Whole nine yards
- Whole shebang
- Wholistic and holistic
- Whoop vs. whup
- Who vs. whom
- Who’s vs. whose
- Who’s Who
- Wicked vs wicked
- Widow’s peak
- Widow, widower
- Wife beater or wifebeater
- Wiki
- Wild goose chase
- Wilful vs. willful
- Willy-nilly
- Will-o’-the-wisp
- Window shopping
- Wind vs wind
- Wing it
- Wink vs blink
- Winningest
- Wintery vs wintry
- Win-win or lose-lose
- Wiseacre
- Wise guy and wiseguy
- Witching hour
- Witch hunt
- Wither vs. whither
- Without Further Ado vs Without Further Adieu
- With all due respect
- With egg on one’s face
- With one’s tail between one’s legs
- Wit vs. whit
- Wobble vs warble
- Wolf in sheep’s clothing
- Womp womp
- Wonder vs. wonderment
- Wonkish, wonky
- Wont
- Wont vs won’t
- Won vs one
- Wood vs would
- Woolen vs. woollen
- Woolgathering
- Word and whirred
- Word of mouth
- Word to the wise
- Workout vs. work out
- Work in progress vs work in process
- Work like a charm
- Work wonders and wonder-worker
- World vs whirled
- Worrywart and worryguts
- Worse comes to worst
- Worst vs wurst
- Worth one’s salt
- Worth one’s while
- Would have, would’ve or would of
- Would just as soon or assume
- Wound vs wound
- Wrap one’s head around
- Wrath vs rath
- Wreak havoc (and wreaked vs. wrought)
- Wreak vs wreck
- Wreath vs. wreathe
- Wreck vs reck
- Wrench and spanner
- Wright vs write
- Writer’s block
- Write-off vs. write off
- Writing numbers
- Writ large
- Wrong side of the tracks
- Wrong vs. wrongly
- Wrote vs rote
- Wunderkind
- WWJD
- W00t
Y
- Yada yada
- Yam vs sweet potato
- Yank, jerk, or pull someone’s chain
- Yarn-bomb
- Yea, yeah, yay
- Yester
- Yiddish
- Yoghurt vs. yogurt
- Yoke vs. yolk
- YOLO
- Yore vs your or you’re
- Young Turk
- Your vs. you’re
- Youthquake
- Youth or youths
- You can lead a horse to water
- You can’t fight city hall
- You reap what you sow
- You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.
- You (in formal writing)
- Yuletide
- Yule vs you’ll
- Y’all
- Y’all vs yawl
#
- ‘L’, L, el (Chicago trains)
- ‘Tis the season
- -able and -ible
- -aholic, -oholic and -holic
- -emia or -aemia
- -esque
- -gate
- -phobe vs -phile
- -wise
- 10 Tips to Improve Your Readability Score
- 11 Best Grammarly Alternatives – Viable Free and Paid Options
- 12 Types of Editors and Editing
- 47 Greetings and Salutations in French
Would love to see a “cheque vs. check” here. Thanks!
Argument or arguement?
Definitely, ‘Argument’ .
I would like to see Mom vs. mum.
Mom, being the American shortened version of “mother”. Mum is commonly used in Great Britain, however, Mom is sometimes used in the West Midlands region of England.
And in Lancashire they refer to her as Mam.
Would love to see “Hospital”… the difference in usage between US and UK Englishes.
Additionally, the above list can be grouped such as -our/-or, -re/-er (a dedicated page already exists for this), æ and œ simplification/reduction (-ae-/-e- and -oe-/-e-). In the hyphen/no-hyphen group, other than co-operate/cooperate, one can have to-day/today, to-morrow/tomorrow, etc.
Great suggestions. We’re working on some new organizational schemes that we think people are going to find useful, and breaking up pages like this one will definitely be part of it.
These days I feel like I went through a lot of work trying to learn English correctly and now….it doesn’t matter how I write it, it’s accepted. Hahahaha. This is VERY interesting but confusing at the same time…English from other countries was not so noticeable in writing when I learrned it, but now that it is…I guess, I have a big challenge….to learn other ways of English hahaha.It all started when I saw the word defence on TV and argued that it had been mispelled and I could not believe it was on TV.:)
Defense vs defence?
Of course we all feel more comfortable with the spellings we were brought up to use. The only time I – educated in Australia in the 1940s & ’50s – voluntarily write “defense” is in the context of American Football, where “defense” is actually a legitimate VERB. “The cornerback defensed that pass perfectly” makes more sense than “defended”, in the context. As the Americans say, go figure!
How about all the variants of chili, chile, chilli….
South Africa – Persue or Pursue ?
summarise or summarize (BR)?
One of my pet hates – Australians using the American ‘jail’ instead of ‘gaol’. Ruth, I feel exactly the same as you! I’m currently doing a masters in Linguistics, and I posted that my grandson’s teacher had used ‘your’ on a note to my daughter, instead of ‘you’re’. The lecturer’s comment was, well, the more people who use the incorrect spelling, the more it will become acceptable usage! To me, that’s just ignorance of basic grammar.
In Australia, college and university are different entities – do the words mean the same thing in some places?
In America, college and university, among the general population, have been accepted to mean the same institutions. Among actual university graduates, however, a finer distinction is made.
I’d guess that less than a quarter of the general American population understand that a college is typically a two-year-degree granting school, whereas a university is a four-year-degree school, often granting masters and doctorates, as well.
When a person leaves home to go away to school, she or he is usually said to be “in college”, even if it’s a university. You could probably drill down and someone would say that most universities are composed of colleges, but I think it’s just an accepted convention.
We’re Americans. We’re linguistically lazy. Eventually, we’ll just point and say “thing”. :)
Good thought. However, what about schools that do not use the terms “college” or “university.” Is the Massachusetts Institute of Technology a university because it grants four-year degrees? What about a school that grants both two-year and four-year degrees? Gregory Chandler
Arbutus vs. Madrona
Grammar/grammer. Is the latter an actual accepted spelling outside of the U.S.?
I hope not — it certainly isn’t here in Britain. One easy way of checking is to try typing “grammer” into a Google search box, and you’ll find that all the search terms that auto-complete for you will say “grammar”.
Googling “grammer” is what brought me here. That spelling showed in the results and I clicked it. I was told that it is correct in Australia, but I have not found it anywhere.
Here’s an old chestnut. If your readers are predominantly in America, is it better to use U.S. spelling? The default spell checker has discombobulated me. (I’m in Australia)
What about the different pronunciations of “soot” and where you’re most likely to hear each pronunciation?
“neither” & “nor” are also a good idea, cause quite usually to enrich my English I am using the old “nor” word, instead of using only “neither” (e.g. “I can’t do it nor do you can” (I can’t do it neither do you.))
“Me either” makes me want to be physically sick. I insist upon “Nor me”.