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Five Commonly Confused Words in English
Using the wrong one can be jarring for the reader.
The English language is awash with words that are erroneously, but in some cases widely, considered to be interchangeable. This is often not the case, and a misused word can jar on the eye of the reader, particularly on a platform where many of those readers are writers themselves. Here are five pairs of words that are often used incorrectly.
Uninterested and Disinterested
I’ll get this one out of the way first, because I was guilty of misuse myself for a while. I’d always used the word uninterested, but then disinterested crept in and began to take over. When I checked the dictionary, I learned that the two words are not interchangeable.
Uninterested means not having an interest in something.
Disinterested means unbiased, and not having a preference for one over another. Check out the difference in these examples.
I don’t know why they dragged me along to the game. I’m completely uninterested in football (I have no interest).
They chose me to referee the game, because I was the only disinterested party they could find (I have no bias).
