Our 51 most commonly misused words and phrases

[Alien Son]

Harvard cognitive scientist and linguist Steven Pinker has compiled a list of the words we misuse the most.

This article includes the list.

Of course, no AwesomeDude writer misuses any of these words!

[DesDownunder]

I'm not certain if I should ever write anything, ever again.

Local usage may well confound some of these misused words, but the list is good to have as a reference.

[Cole Parker]

There are a few there that I'd use incorrectly, except those ones are words I'd never use. So I'm OK.

C

[ChrisR]

"Meretricious" is on the list of the most misused words? I doubt I've seen it used at all in the last decade!

Fortunately, this list provides a nice set of words for story characters who profess slightly greater verbiacal aplomb than they actually possess.

[Cole Parker]

I was wondering why they didn't highlight 'contumelious' and 'contumacious'. Those always confuse me.

C

[colinian]

Thanks to Cole for two good words. They do have excellent alternates that are less obscure but don't have quite the same nuance. For example:

She was the most contumelious and contumacious teenager Cole had ever encountered.

a.k.a.

She was the most disrespectful and disobedient teenager Cole had ever encountered.

Colin

[Cole Parker]

Or: Colin continued with his contumacious behavior, displaying his innate contumely.

Yeah, those are better usages.

C

[Bruin Fisher]

In my youth I was hauled over the coals for using the word 'conspicious', having confused auspicious and conspicuous. I still rather like it...