These two confusing words have similar meanings, but are used in different ways. Disburse means “to give something to multiple recipients,” usually in an official way, such as when giving financial aid to students. Disburse most often refers to giving out money: The office of financial aid disburses funds to students once per month. Disperse, on […]

These unrelated words are often mixed up.Desert is both a noun and a verb, with completely different meanings.  Desert, the noun, refers to a geographical area with a very dry climate. In desert regions such as the Sahara Desert, Gobi Desert, and Death Valley, there may be no rain at all for years.  Desert, the verb, means […]

Descension is not a modern English word—500 years ago, it had the same meaning as descent, “to go down”; but now, it’s use is so rare, most publications would not consider it a word, other than to mention its historical usage.Dissension is a modern word and, similarly to the descension/descent relation, dissension has the same meaning as dissent; […]

Demur can be a verb or a noun, while demure is an adjective; and becomes the adverb, demurely, also.Demure means “shy, modest, polite, or unassuming” and can describe a person, or their manner: The demure young lady lowered her eyes and approached the microphone hesitantly. Demure has often been used to describe the mannerisms expected […]

These two words have quite unrelated meanings.Defuse, as a verb, means “cause something dangerous to become not dangerous”; originally, it referred specifically to bombs, which have fuses—the strings that catch on fire to light a primitive bomb (at least in cartoons). However, nowadays, defuse can be used for anything dangerous: We hope that a good […]