Good morning, my friends!
I occasionally write about misused words. And today, I’m going to do it again—only with a twist. The misused words I’m sharing today are from GrammarBook.com, and they are misused because they sound like they should mean something different from what they actually mean. Without really thinking about it, when we hear a word, we relate it to words that seem to have the same root or to words that sound similar. It’s an intuitive response that can save us time, but in these instances, it leads us to an incorrect conclusion.
Maybe these are not words you hear often these days, but it’s interesting to know that when people do use them, they often use them incorrectly because they sound similar to more common words.
I want to add a disclaimer here: some of the words are misused so often that some dictionaries have included the incorrect definition (Hiss! Boo!). Dictionaries will usually list the most accepted definition first, and they’ll list the least accepted definition last or near the end of the list of definitions.
Here’s the list, don’t choke on your coffee or tea when you learn how wrong we’ve been!
| Word | enervate |
| Mistaken Meaning | to energize |
| Correct Meaning | to weaken or sap |
| Correct Example | Standing in the ticket line for six hours enervated us. |
| Word | enormity |
| Mistaken Meaning | enormousness, great size |
| Correct Meaning | something outrageous or heinous |
| Correct Example | The enormity of the bank scandal was even worse than they thought. |
| Word | fulsome |
| Mistaken Meaning | full, abundant, copious |
| Correct Meaning | offensive to good taste, improperly or insincerely excessive |
| Correct Example | She didn’t believe his fulsome apology for staying away all weekend. |
| Word | noisome |
| Mistaken Meaning | noisy |
| Correct Meaning | noxious, offensive, disgusting (especially an odor) |
| Correct Example | The smell from the trashcan was noisome. |
| Word | proscribe |
| Mistaken Meaning | to prescribe, recommend, direct |
| Correct Meaning | to condemn, forbid |
| Correct Example | The village proscribes alcohol sales on Sundays. |
Donna Bradley Burcher | Senior Technical Editor | Symitar®
8985 Balboa Ave. | San Diego, CA 92123 | Ph. 619.278.0432 | Ext: 765432
Pronouns she/her/hers
About Editor’s Corner
Editor’s Corner keeps your communication skills sharp by providing information on grammar, punctuation, JHA style, and all things English. As editors, we spend our days reading, researching, and revising other people’s writing. We love to spend a few extra minutes to share what we learn with you and keep it fun while we’re doing it.
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