English is full of synonyms, especially because of the many words of French and Latin origin that were added as a consequence of the Norman Conquest and Renaissance. That’s why we have ask but also question and interrogate.
One result of this expansive vocabulary, however, is that there are also words that resemble each other—not in meaning, but in the way they are spelled and spoken. Here are a few.
Definition: habitually disposed to disobedience and opposition
Froward is the kind of word that autocorrect seems to have been made for: it is usually changed to forward when keyed into a computer today.
But it formerly was a useful word meaning “obstinate” or “unreasonable,” and originally functioned in opposition to toward; if toward means “in the direction of” something, then froward means “in the direction away from.” When used to refer to attitudes and behaviors, toward meant “agreeable” and froward meant “disagreeable,” but the only relic of these meanings in today’s English is our use of untoward. Froward has fallen from use.
But we still see this word in famous texts. It’s used in the King James Bible with the proverb “A froward man soweth strife,” and it’s found in Shakespeare in phrases such as “froward and disdainful pride.”
Definition: troublesomely urgent : overly persistent in request or demand
This word feels familiar, but the similarity of importunate to unfortunate is, well, unfortunate for ease of understanding.
Importunate means persistent to the point of being annoying, and generally has a negative connotation, as in “an importunate suitor.” Its meaning may be easier to remember if we connect importunate with its relative opportune; while opportune can mean “suitable” or “timely,” importunate interactions are generally unwelcome.
Definition: to put into a state of perplexity and embarrassment : disconcert
Discomfit can be an uncomfortable word. Its first meaning, now obsolete, was “to defeat in battle,” borrowed from medieval French. The French term was not related to comfort at all, but came from the word meaning “to make ready” or “to prepare,” and another branch on this family of words is the term used for food prepared with sugar, still found in the word comfit and related to words used in cooking, such as confit and confection.
The path taken by discomfit led from “to defeat in battle” to “to frustrate the plans of, to thwart,” and finally reducing its intensity to mean “to disconcert” or “to embarrass,” as in “The mayor was discomfited by questions about his investments.”
In other words: “to be discomfited” and “to be made uncomfortable” are very similar in meaning.
Definition: to blind physically or mentally
Excecate (pronounced /eks-SEE-kate/) may look like it has one too many c’s. It means “to blind” and comes from the Latin word with the same meaning, excaecare.
The much more familiar execrate, pronounced /EKS-suh-krate/, means “to denounce” or “to despise,” as in “She came to execrate the hypocritical values of her upper-class upbringing.” This word also has Latin roots; it comes from the word exsecrari which means “to put under a curse.”
Definition: highly pertinent or appropriate : apt
Opposite might mean “across” or “different,” but apposite means, well, nearly the opposite. Something “opposite” is very different, but something “apposite” is appropriate, or something that touches on similar ideas or themes to something else. The Latin root they share is pōnere, meaning "to place” or “to set," so apposite describes something placed near or next to something, whereas opposite describes something placed apart or away from something. The word is often used to describe ideas or words, as in “apposite remarks.”
Definition: to present and urge reasons in opposition : expostulate
Remonstrate rhymes with demonstrate, and shares its Latin heritage with the root word monstrare , which means “to show.” This makes these two words overlap in meaning, since demonstrate can mean literally “to show” as in “to make something seen” but it also sometimes means “to make clear by reasoning,” as in “demonstrate the need for more schools.” Remonstrate is often used to mean something close to “protest” or “plead” in formal contexts, as in “remonstrate against trademark infringement.”
Definition: to expose to shame or blame by means of falsehood and misrepresentation
Traduce can mean “to betray” in addition to “to expose to shame,” and it almost seems like a combination of the words traitor and reduce. The word’s Latin roots literally mean “to lead across,” hence metaphorically it’s possible “to lead astray” when talking about reputations or ideas. This word emphasizes the shame felt by the victim of such treatment, as in “he was unfairly traduced by his opponents.”
Using this word will introduce new subtlety to the description shame and blame.
Definition: diligent
If you’re a hard worker, your reputation for being sedulous will be perfectly credulous to those around you. You can be called a “sedulous student” or your work can be admired for its “sedulous craftsmanship,” and your efforts mean that no confusion should come from any resemblance to the unrelated word sedentary.
