These two words sound the same but have very different meanings. Shear has many uses related to cutting or separating—the kind of cutting done with scissors, not with a knife. Sheer is mainly an adjective meaning absolute or pure, but it has other meanings,such as steep and diaphanous (more explanation below). That’s a brief overview, but much […]

These words are pronounced the same but have no relation to each other. To scull, as a verb, describes the action of rowing a small boat, especially a certain kind of long, narrow row-boat called a scull, using oars also called sculls. Sculling can describe the action of rowing any small boat, or the sport […]

These two adjectives are actually close in meaning, but are distinct. Transparent describes anything that you can see through, such as glass or air. Translucent means “transparent to light”; it describes anything that allows light to pass through, but which is not completely transparent, such as stained glass, or wine. Examples of “Transparent” Used in a Sentence […]

As nouns, quotation and quote can have the same meaning—referring to any quoted material: She read me a quote/quotation from Henry David Thoreau. In other uses, they differ slightly; only quotation can refer to the process of quoting: There are many rules for academic quotation. Also, only quote can be used to describe an asking price—the price being asked for […]

These words are pronounced the same way, but are otherwise unrelated and have different meanings. Sachet is a French noun meaning little sack (a sack is a bag). Sachet most often refers to very small bags of herbs or perfumes that you can use to make a nice smell in places where clothing is stored. It […]