Because spellcheck, wonderful as it may be, doesn’t catch words used improperly …
And because the English language has more than its fair share of homophones …
This month’s post alerts you to five sets of words that are prone to misuse.
Let’s start with a 3fer.
- Imminent – eminent – immanent
The most common of the three is eminent, meaning “distinguished, of good repute.” It is commonly replaced with imminent, meaning “certain, very near.”
The arrival of the eminent professor is imminent.
Immanent is primarily a theological term. It means “inherent,” or “restricted to the mind.”
John Brown’s immanent belief in abolition motivated his attack on Harper’s Ferry.
- Complacent – complaisant
These two adjectives with corresponding nouns (complacency, complaisance) share a Latin root, complacere, meaning to please or be pleasant. In English, however, they have morphed into different meanings. To be complacent is to be self-satisfied or so pleased with yourself that you’re smug, self-righteous, conceited.
Complaisant, on the other hand, refers to a desire to please to the extent one might be considered a pushover.
“I’m worried that Junior is too complacent about his grades and won’t be able to get into an Ivy League school,” Mrs. Jones complained.
The widow’s complaisance made her an easy target for scammers.
- Descent – decent -dissent constitute another threesome that are sometimes confused.
Use the adjective decent to describe something wholesome, in good condition, appropriate, or modest.
The newlyweds’ apartment was in a decent part of town.
Descent is a noun that refers to a downward slope or in a downward direction as well as birth or lineage.
The descent may seem like the easiest part of a mountain hike, but experts say that’s when most falls occur.
In the ancient world, the line of descent was usually to the oldest son.
Decent and descent are not true homophones because they are not pronounced the same. Decent rhymes with recent, with the accent on the first syllable. Descent and its homophone dissent are pronounced with the accent on the second syllable: di SENT.
Dissent can be a verb, meaning to disagree, or a noun, meaning to have a different opinion.
The administration seemed unprepared for the level of dissent the executive order generated. Dissenting opinions were voiced throughout the country.
- Altar – alter
Not only do these words have distinct meanings, they are different parts of speech.
Altar is always a noun—a place or structure on which sacrifices or incense are burned in worship. Alter is a verb, meaning to change or make different. Altar may also be used figuratively to describe something of great value or that is valued at the cost of something else.
Queen Elizabeth’s coronation took place at the altar in Westminster Abbey, forever altering the life of the young woman. Some suggest she sacrificed her own desires on the altar of the monarchy.
- Rack-wrack
Finally, if you’ve ever racked your brain over the use of rack and wrack, well, you’re not alone. Even the experts concede this a confusing and complicated word pair.
The two words have different origins and meanings. The verb rack likely comes from the Dutch and means “to stretch,” while wrack comes from the Middle English for shipwreck. As a noun, rack has multiple meanings—a set of antlers, a frame for setting up pool balls, a horse’s gait, and the one applicable for this confusing twosome: a framework for stretching used as a medieval instrument of torture. And this is where we get the sense of suffering i.e. racking your brain, rack and ruin, though you’re just as likely to see wracking your brain and wrack and ruin.
What to do? It’s nerve-racking, for sure. Some advocate dropping the use of wrack. It’s an archaic term, they argue. Others, like Merriam-Webster, acknowledge wrack/rack as alternate spellings for the same word. Isn’t it nice to know that at least in this case, there’s more than one acceptable way to spell a word?
