Confusing Words Clarified: Group I; Homonyms, Homophones, Homographs, Synonyms, Polysemes, etc. +
(lists of "I" sections that are organized into what for some people are confusing groups of words)
If you have any problems understanding the pronunciation symbols, go to this Pronunciation Chart for clarifications.
In dangerous times, the internment of political prisoners has often led to their secret interment.
The winner of the intramural sports competition at each of the universities then played an inter-mural game to determine the overall championship.
The outcome of the intranational elections in the country had international implications for trade and commerce.
The news reporter was allowed to interpellate the politician during an interview. When Lenora prepared her report, she attempted to interpolate direct quotations with the facts gleaned during her interview.
The intrastate rules governing estates which are left intestate do not apply to interstate situations.
2. To become medically dangerous: Without treatment, the doctors were afraid that gangrene would invade the wound.
It seemed like the big box industrial building was set to invade the neighborhood despite the efforts of the local residents who inveighed in vane against the incursion.
The health insurance was invalid for the poor invalid.
2. A process for asking for support, help, or intercession: The priest started the church service with an invocation.
Generally, an invocation comes at the beginning and a benediction comes at the end of a ceremony or religious service, etc.
The word invocation has Latin ancestors in invocare, meaning "to invoke"; for example, to call on (a higher power) for assistance, support, or inspiration".
A benediction expresses "good wishes" or "a blessing". It has ancestors in the Latin phrase bene dicere, meaning "to speak well" or "to praise".
In order to appease the many relatives, one uncle was asked to speak an invocation at the beginning of the ceremony and the other uncle was invited to give the benediction at the close of the ceremony.
Lucinda tried to invoke the help of a magician to complete her overdue homework assignment; however, she had to revoke her appeal when her teacher said she would get a lower grade if she had outside help.
The iPad will work with the iTunes store to let users discover and purchase music, movies and TV shows.
Like the iPhone, the iPad has a virtual keyboard, is about half an inch thick (1.27 centimeters), weighs 1.5 pounds (.68 kilograms), has a 9.7-inch (24.64-centimeter) display, and offers internal storage option capacities of 16GB, 32GB or 64GB.
2. A combination of a portable digital media player and hard drive from Apple Computer: An iPod has a reputation for being user-friendly because he or she can navigate with what Apple calls a "touch wheel", which is a centrally-placed circular disk designed for one-hand operation.
Popular iPod features include a calendar, address book, to-do list, alarm clock with sleep timer, games, and a text reader.
When an eye pad is applied to an eye, it will cool and reduce puffiness and dark circles.
Bonita's eyes got so tired when she was using Mark's iPad that she needed to rest them by placing a tea-soaked eye pad on each eye and while she was resting, she listened to Lucinda's iPod.
2. An instrument or tool used for removing the creases and wrinkles in cloth: In pioneer homes, the iron for pressing clothing was heavy and difficult to use.
2. A reference to a mocking or an oblique comment: Donald's ironic sense of humor often conveyed the truth about what he was thinking.
It was sadly ironic that Jason's uncle, who had always had an iron constitution, became seriously ill when he was just 40 years old.
Some politicians become irrational in the way they spend and waste money.
2. Affected by loss of usual or normal mental clarity; incoherent, as from a shock: Greg commented, "Tami, your fears and your behavior are irrational."3. Unsound, illogical, unreasonable, not based on reality, nonsensical, foolish: Addie tends to be more irrational every day as a result of her demented condition.
2. Referring to a person who exceeds normal limits; obstinate, headstrong, stubborn, inflexible, obdurate, prejudiced: Andrew is a spoiled and unreasonable person.
3. Excessive, too great, exorbitant, extravagant, immoderate, unjustifiable: The company's management considers the union's demands as being totally unreasonable.
It is not unreasonable to fear that Tim's irrational anger could translate into aggression which might become unreasonably physical.
It seemed that authorities had to use unreasonable force to control Harold whose mental state could be described as increasingly irrational.
The way some people use God's name in their irreverent and vulgar statements indicates how impudent and inconsiderate some people are.
In a response to the social columnist’s propensity to make irreverent comments in her newspaper columns, the readers started to think of Celeste as old fashioned and irrelevant for these times.
2. Used as a modifier before a noun: The airline canceled its flight to New York.
Like "his", another possessive pronoun, its never takes an apostrophe.
Since an "i" is missing, an apostrophe must be inserted to show the omission, but it is never used as a possessive.
Its is the possessive form of the pronoun it and is correctly written without an apostrophe.
This should not be confused with the contraction it's (for it is or it has), which should always be written with an apostrophe.
It's come to my attention that many people have no understanding of the difference between it's; as in, "It's going to be sunny today." and its; as in, "I put each flower in its proper place in the garden."
Confusing Words: Homonyms, Homophones, and Homographs; explained and demonstrated.
Confusing Words: Units, Groups A to Z.
Confusing Words: Vocabulary Quizzes Listed.
