Would you hide a key in a crevasse or in a crevice? Would you invite a critic or a critique to dine at your restaurant? Would you stand in a cue, a Kew, or a queue to get tickets for a movie?
Mt. Baker – summit from center of crevasse, wikimedia commons
crevasse, crevice
A crevasse is a deep fissure, or opening, in the earth’s surface or on a glacier.
The earthquake opened a crevasse in the center of the busy city.
A crevice is a narrow opening.
The bug escaped from a certain death by running inside the wall’s crevice.
crewed, crude
Crewed means operated by a crew.
The ship was crewed by those of several different nationalities.
Crude means raw and unrefined. It also means blunt, impolite, and improper.
Miranda was astonished by the crude behavior of the young man who took her to the dance.
crewel curtain, wikimedia commons
crewel, cruel
Crewel is a worsted yarn used for embroidery. It is also called crewel yarn.
The specialty shop was sold out of blue crewel.
Cruel describes the actions of a person who is bloodthirsty, ferocious, merciless, or relentless.
The cruel and heartless murderer always kept a memento of each of his victims.
crews, cruise
Crews means more than one crew.
The huge ship had extra crews flown in to help with the party.
A cruise is a pleasurable voyage on a ship.
The Hendersons went on a cruise to celebrate their fiftieth wedding anniversary.
croquet equipment, wikimedia commons
critic, critique
A critic is one who judges, evaluates, or criticizes. A critic can be nice, or a critic can be mean in his reviews of literary works, artistic performances, food, or other things.
The movie critic was well known for his critical reviews.
A critique is a critical article or essay, usually written by a critic.
The literary critic published a critique of the author’s new book that made her cry.
croquet, croquette
Croquet is a lawn game where wooden balls are knocked through metal wickets with mallets.
While I was growing up, croquet was one of my family’s favorite games.
A croquette is a small ball of minced meat, fish, or other type of food that is coated with beaten egg and breadcrumbs, then deep fried in fat.
The subject of today’s cooking class is how to make the perfect croquette.
cubicle, wikipedia
crumble, crumple
When you crumble an item, you break it into small pieces.
The potato soup recipe calls for one to crumble bacon over the top of the soup.
Crumple means to collapse or give way suddenly. It also means to press or crush into an irregular shape.
Miranda, angry over flunking the test, longed to crumple the offensive piece of paper.
cubical, cubicle
If an item can be described as cubical, it has the shape of a cube.
The cubical homes in the new subdivision just didn’t appeal to many buyers.
A cubicle is a small space or compartment that has been partitioned off from the rest of the room.
Darcy went and hid in the cubicle at the library so she could study in peace and quiet.
Kew Gardens, wikipedia
cue, Kew, queue
A cue is a signal.
The actress waited for the director’s cue to say her lines.
Kew is the name of some famous gardens in England. It is also the name of a part of Greater London.
The Hendersons visited Kew Gardens for their fortieth wedding anniversary.
A queue is a line.
There is a long queue of people waiting to go see the new movie.
curate, curet, curette
A curate is one employed to assist a rector or vicar. A curate is also a parish priest.
All of the ladies in the congregation found the new curate to be extremely attractive.
When used as a verb, curate means to take charge of and organize, to pull together, sift through, and select for use.
Mrs. Windstorm was chosen to curate the arts festival this year.
A curet or curette is a surgical scraping tool.
Curet, which can also be spelled curette, comes from a French word that means to clear or to cleanse.
confusing words, www.confusing-words.com
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