| confusables |
| Definition -
Words that are often confused with each other.
Notes: 1. The British lexicographer Adrian Room claims there are two types if confusables: lookalikes (climactic and climatic) and meanalikes (fatalism and pessimism). |
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Example - augur and auger, cite and site, definite and definitive |
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Etymology - The word was popularized and (perhaps) coined by Adrian Room in his 1979 book Room's Dictionary of Confusibles. |
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Oxford English Dictionary - Its first citation is from 1979: "Room's dictionary of confusibles." (A. Room (title)) |