These two adjectives, though related, have quite different meanings. Official means “recognized by or representing an authority, such as a government.” For example, official documents, official identification, official permission, etc. Official can also be used as a noun to refer to an official representative of authority: The official at the border asked to see our official documents. Officious […]

These easily confused adjectives have fairly different meanings. Noisome describes offensive sensations of any kind, and offensive individuals and events. However, it is usually used only for things that can be experienced through the senses—not for offensive beliefs: He is a noisome individual who rarely showers and yells at people constantly. Noisy, on the other hand, describes […]

These words, although sounding the same, have different meanings. Meddle is a verb meaning to interfere: Mr. Troy’s evil plan was stopped by meddling do-gooders. Mettle is a noun for a kind of strength—not the kind of strength needed for lifting heavy weights, but rather spiritual strength, courage, or general toughness—the ability to stand against threatening forces: […]

These two nouns have similar meanings, and can usually be used in place of each other, although there are some differences. Motto and slogan both refer to short sayings (one sentence or phrase, usually) that are easy to remember and which describe a belief, policy, attitude. Both mottos and slogans can be associated with either a person […]

These two adverbs, which usually modify adjectives, have basically the same meaning—“to some degree, or in part” and can be used in exactly the same ways: We are usually partly/partially right and partly/partially wrong. Since they are adverbs, they can also be used to modify verbs, prepositional phrases, and sentences when appropriate: I partly told the truth, […]