If something is delightful, is it elision or Elysian? When a murderer is unable to be captured by the police, does he allude or elude them? Is a false sense of reality an elusion, allusion, or illusion?
tree mittens, flickr
elementary, alimentary
If something is described as elementary, then it is simple.
The solution to the mystery of the disappearing mittens is so elementary.
If a food is described as alimentary, then it is nutritious.
The young mother made a New Year’s resolution to always prepare alimentary meals for her family.
elicit, illicit
Elicit means to draw out or bring forth.
Her heartbreaking testimony was meant to elicit sympathy from the jury.
Is something is illicit, it is either illegal or not appeoved for moral or ethical reasons.
The illicit flow of narcotics into this country needs to be stopped.
view of mountains, wikipedia
elision, Elysian
Elision is the omission of a letter or syllable in pronunciation of a word.
Her elision of r’s when she spoke was cute, but annoying.
According to classical mythology, the Elysian fields are the abode of the blessed after death. Elysian means blissful or delightful.
The Elysian view from the balcony that looked out over the mountains left her speechless.
elocution, allocation
Elocution is a person’s manner or style of speaking or reading in public.
Her elocution during the play tryouts was flawless.
Allocation is the act of something being portioned out for a specific reason.
The allocation of the money raised by the bake sale will be for new computers and laptops.
the illusion, pixabay
elude, allude
Elude means to escape.
The mass murderer seems to have a gift for being able to elude capture by the authorities.
Allude means to refer to or to hint at.
In her speech, she will allude to the winner of the award.
elusion, allusion, illusion
Elusion is evasion by quickness or cunning.
The sly old fox’s gift of elusion is what enabled him to have such a long life.
An allusion is a casual reference.
She only made an allusion to the deep, dark secrets held by the inhabitants of the small, sleepy town.
An illusion is a false sense of reality.
The magician will perform a spectacular illusion.
the elusive tarzier, flickr
elusive, illusive
If something is elusive, it is baffling and hard to understand or define. Elusive also means difficult to find.
Her elusive answers to the detective’s questions made her a prime suspect.
If something is illusive, it is unreal.
She realized that she would probably never succeed in finishing the illusive goal she had set for herself.
emanate, emulate
Emanate means to flow out or proceed from a source or origin.
Light will emanate from the lamp and fill the darkened room.
Emulate means to imitate or try to equal.
Her attempts to emulate the moves of her ballet teacher were not successful.
girl writing, etc.usf.edu
emend, amend
Emend means to edit, change, or correct written work.
Doug had his wife emend his manuscript.
Amend means to change or modify.
Now that you are divorced, are you going to amend your will?
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Another good post on the differences between confusing words.
I will try and remember “emend or amend!”
I look forward to more confusing words! 🙂