C

• cacao/cocoa/coca/coco: cacao is the tree that produces cocoa, or chocolate; coca is a shrub producing cocaine; coco is the tree that bears coconuts
  
  
• can/could/may: can most often applies to physical or mental ability; could carries a meaning of uncertainty; may suggests possibility
  
  
• canvas/canvass: canvas is a heavy, closely woven cloth; to canvass is to solicit
  
  
• capability/capacity/ability: capability is a more generalized aptitude; capacity means a container’s ability to contain a substance and the figurative meaning as a person’s learning potential; ability is an individual’s potential to achieve a goal; capability is a more generalized aptitude
  
  
• capital/capitol: capital is a city that is a seat of government; capitol is the building in which a legislative body transacts business
  
  
• carat/karat/caret: carat is a measure of gemstone weight or of gold’s purity; karat is only used for the fineness of gold (and is the preferred term for gold by some tsk tskers); a caret is a mark (small tent- or wedge-shaped) written on manuscripts to indicate where something is to be added
  
  
• celebrate/commemorate: to celebrate is to honor in a festive manner; to commemorate is to remember or honor something or someone from the past
  
  
• censor/censure: to censor is to prevent or eliminate circulation of material judged objectional and to review for material deemed suspect (typically by authorities); to censure is to officially reprimand or to ardently criticize
  
  
• chair/chairman/chairwoman/chairperson: since the mid-17th century, chair has been recognized as a position of responsibility/authority; it is convenient in being gender-neutral
  
  
• charge/accuse: charge is an official citation for a suspected crime and accuse is to informally allege a misdeed
  
  
• childish/childlike: childish typically relates to less-pleasant aspects of children; childlike has a positive connotation of innocent, fresh qualities
  
  
• Chile/chili: Chile is the South American nation; chili is a New World vegetable that often flavors a spicy stew also bearing the name
  
  
• cite/site: cite as a noun is an abbreviation for citation (information source); to cite is to provide an information source; site is a location or place
  
  
• citizen/resident/subject/national/native a citizen is a person with the full civil rights conferred by a nation, either by birth or naturalization; a resident is an inhabitant of a national subcategory, such as a city, village, or state; a subject is a synonym for "citizen" in a monarchy; a national is a person living in a nation other than the national of citizenship, or a person under the protection of a specified country; a native is an individual born in a given location
  
  
• classic/classical/classicist: classic stands for authoritative, influential; classical names traditional works of art, music, and literature; classicist describes a follower or advocate of tradition
  
  
• clench/clinch: clench is most often a physical clamping action, with clinch typically having a figurative meaning (as in making agreements or settling arguments)
  
  
• climactic/ climatic: climactic is the adjective for climax; climatic is the adjective for climate
  
  
• cohabit/cohabitate: cohabit is the standard verb for “to live together”’ cohabitate is an unacceptable invented (backwards) formation
  
  
• cohort: not correct as “a companion” or “buddy”; cohort originally meant a group of warriors and also is employed to describe a group of individuals sharing an element of statistical relevance; in general, can describe any close-knit group
  
  
• coincidence: a minimum of two concurrent events are required for a coincidence; a good night’s sleep cannot be a happy coincidence: it’s just restful
  
  
• collegial/collegiate: collegial is typically camaraderie among colleagues; collegiate is about a college
  
  
• collision: Folks picky about meaning restrict collision to the impact of two entities in motion (as in atoms, vehicles, or ideas); although the distinction is not recognized by all, careful writers will never write of a truck colliding with a tree
  
  
• commendable/commendatory: A commendable act is something done for a laudable reason; something that expresses appreciation or high regard is commendatory (as in a commendatory certificate or plaque]
  
  
• common/mutual: something held in common is shared by two or more persons; mutual denotes reciprocity or direct exchange
  
  
• compelled/impelled: to be compelled is to be forced into action by compelling force; to be impelled is to be driven (but not forced) forward, usually because one is convinced of the need for action
  
  
• compendious/voluminous: compendious means succinct or abridged; voluminous means enormous or very long
  
  
• complacent/complaisant/compliant: complacent communicates satisfaction with one’s situation (including the inference of self-satisfaction at the expense of planning for potential problems); complaisant is even-tempered and eager to please; compliant is to be agreeable to a regimen or to orders or wishes of others
  
  
• complement/compliment: complement is something that completes or brings parts to wholeness; compliment is a statement of praise or flattery
  
  
• comprehensible/comprehensive: comprehensible is that which can be understood; comprehensive is complete (in scope) or inclusive
  
  
• comprise/compose/constitute: comprise means to contain (the deck comprises 52 cards) and never follows the form of “is comprised of”; compose is opposite to comprise, as is constitute (the 52 cards either compose or constitute a deck) things are composed or constituted “of”; Note: All these words are fancy forms usually used by writers to impress folks with the writer's vocabulary. All too often, discerning readers are only impressed with the writer's ignorance. Removing these words from one's vocabulary will negate the need to look up the meanings and will typically improve your text
  
  
• compulsion/compunction: compulsion is being forced or compelled: compunction is apprehension prompted by guilt or remorse
  
  
• concerning/concerned: concerning is only a preposition meaning regarding or related to [The matter was concerning accuracy.]: concerned is an adjective meaning worried or anxious [She was concerned about the problem]. Never! Never! Never! The problem was concerning to him. Never!
  
  
• concrete/cement: cement is typically mixed powdered rock and clay; concrete is a mix of cement, gravel, and water
  
  
• confidant/confident: confidant is a person close enough for one to confide in, a very close friend; confident means to be certain, to have faith
  
  
• connive/conspire: to consciously avoid affirming something unpleasant or to secretly consent to the same is to connive; to conspire is to secretly plan something harmful or illegal with another
  
  
• connote/denote: to connote is provide additional meaning, especially an emotional nuance; to denote is to identify the actual meaning of something
  
  
• contagious/infectious: contagious is about a mode of transmission, as in spread by contact; with infectious related to a disease cause. An infectious disease may or may not be contagious (pneumonia is infectious but not contagious; influenza is infectious and contagious)
  
  
• contemptuous/contemptible: contemptuous is directing contempt toward someone or something; contemptible is an attitude others has toward one
  
  
• continual/continuous: the continual continues, but has interruptions or pauses; continuous is uninterrupted
  
  
• copyright: about rights, has nothing to do with write
  
  
• corollary/correlation: corollary is either (1) a direct or incidental result of an action or incident or (2) an auxiliary proposition following from an accepted math proposition; correlation is a positive link between stuff or events: used in statistics or physics, it specifies the degree of observations and variances not solely based on chance
  
  
• cost/price/value/worth: cost is what is paid for a thing; price is what a seller asks for it; value is comparison to a recognized criterion; worth is its relationship to a potential buyer’s need or wish
  
  
• couldn’t care less: acceptable. Avoid could care less
  
  
• court-martial: always hyphenated; plural is courts-martial
  
  
• covetous/envious/jealous: one who is covetous wishes for what another has; an envious person wishes ill of another because the other has more of or some thing or one wanted; one who is jealous resents another because the other infringes on what one has
  
  
• crevice/crevasse: crevice is a crack (tiny or small); a crevasse is a sizeable cleft in a glacier: One can fall into a crevasse, but not a crevice
  
  
• criminal/unlawful/illegal/illicit: a criminal act violates criminal statutes; an unlawful act can violate criminal or civil statutes and does not necessarily involve immorality (as in a parking violation); society writes laws to define illegal acts; an illicit act is typically considered to include moral culpability
  
  
• criteria: plural of criterion
  
  
• critical/crucial: critical is about something at an important turning point or vital juncture; crucial is about something important or essential
  
  
• cynical: overused, with a traditional meaning of skepticism, typically also self-righteous with a suggestion of pessimism or misanthropy

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