Commonly Misused or Misspelled Words Beginning With The Letter N #GrowYourVocab

Words Beginning With the Letter N Commonly Misused, Confused or Misspelled.

I'm back trying to clarify and demystify more words that are commonly confused, misused or misspelled. This post has been brought to you by the Letter "N".

Naive vs. Naivete: (usage) Naive is used to describe a person or action showing a "lack of worldly experience and understanding" or "lack of sophistication or critical judgement" (adjective) "Naivete is the state of being naive" or unsophisticated, inexperienced, uncritical, innocent or even gullible. It refers to a naive person or action. (noun)

Naught vs. Not vs. Knot: (usage) Naught means nothing or nonexistent. Not is used to express negation, denial or refusal. Knot refers to a nautical unit of speed, fastening something by tying two parts together, a tightening of something, or a circular hard section or lump of a tree that is visible in cut lumber. 

Nebulous: (meaning) Nebulous means "hazy, vague, indistinct or confused". Not clearly defined or easily understood. 

Necessitate vs. Necessity: (usage) Necessitate means to "require, compel, force or to make necessary or unavoidable". Necessary means "needed to achieve a certain effect or result".

Nefarious: (meaning) Nefarious means to be extremely evil or wicked. 

Neighbour vs. Neighbor: (spelling) Neighbour is the British spelling, whereas Neighbor is the American spelling and refers to someone living nearby. Both spellings are correct. 

Neither vs. Either: (usage) Neither can mean "not one or the other" or "also or similarly not". For example: Neither movie appeals to Joan, and if she doesn't want to go to the movies neither do I. Either can mean "one or the other" or "likewise or also". For example: We can either stay in and watch TV or go out to the movies, but if you're not going out I won't either. 

Neophyte: (meaning) Neophyte refers to someone recently or "newly converted to a belief or religion", or a "novice or beginner". 

Nine, Ninth, Ninety, Ninetieth: (spelling) Notice that only when spelling ninth is the e dropped. Most tricky of all is the spelling of ninetieth. 

Nonfiction vs. Non-fiction vs. Non Fiction: (spelling, usage) Both nonfiction and non-fiction are correct. I referred this to an expert in the field and he explained it this way: "This question is exemplary of a broader question concerning the use of hyphens in compound words. My impression is that the use of hyphenated words greatly increased in the twentieth century as the jargon from very technical vocabularies entered common parlance: military-industrial, socio-economic, crypto-fascist etcetera. I notice that spellcheck regularly recommends the use of hyphens." So there you have it folks both options are correct and look for parlance to be in the upcoming Letter "P" Grow Your Vocab post.  

Nonplussed: (spelling, usage) Nonplussed means to be bewildered and unsure how to react, or at a loss as to how to react, or to think say or do in reaction to.

Noticeable: (spelling) Noticeable is spelt with an e. 

If you haven't already (like that could ever happen) be sure to check out the Grow Your Vocab posts brought to you by other letters.
Definitions via Free Dictionary 

Yep, just me Cathy thinking out loud about the letter "N".

Special thanks to my brother for his expertise and insights on my Grow Your Vocab posts.

Disclosure: I received no compensation for this post. The purpose of the post is merely to share with my readers information I think might be of interest to my readers.