Allude and Elude

If you allude to something, you’re giving an indirect reference without stating it outright. It’s like dropping a hint in a conversation. Instead of naming the thing directly, you talk around it, letting the listener connect the dots. Elude sounds almost the same, but it carries a very different meaning: to escape, get away, or avoid capture. You can also use elude when something just won’t come to mind or feels difficult to understand.

Example sentences with allude:

• She alluded to the problem without mentioning it exactly.
• The presenter alluded to his humble beginnings to connect with the audience.
• The novel’s ending alludes to a future without conflict.

Example sentences with elude:

• The meaning of the text still eludes researchers.
• The suspect tried to elude the police by taking a series of back roads.
• Sleep eluded the new parents no matter how tired they were.

Adverse and Averse

Adverse and averse may look alike, but they both point in different directions. The word adverse refers to something that is harmful or negative – like adverse weather or adverse effects. Drop the letter d and you have averse. Averse refers to negative feelings or attitudes that people have. To be averse to something is to have a strong feeling of being against something. On the flipside, if you say you are not averse to something, it means you actually don’t mind it or enjoy it.

Example sentences with adverse:

• The patient had an adverse reaction to the medicine because he had an allergy to it.
• Budget cuts will have an adverse effect on the services offered to the public.
• The company received a lot of adverse publicity after the scandal.

Example sentences with averse:

• She is very risk averse so she will probably won’t try changing jobs.
• Mark is averse to hard exercise – he prefers going for walks.
• I’m not averse to accepting a nice gift from time to time.

Censor and Censure

Both censor and censure are verbs that sound similar but have different roles. One word silences – censor – and the other word scolds – censure. To censor is to suppress or delete material seen as objectionable. Censure, on the other hand, isn’t about hiding something but to call something out. It means to criticize, find fault in, or officially express disapproval in something someone has done or said. Below are some examples to help clarify the difference between the two words.

Example sentences with censor:

• The news about the killing was heavily censored in order to cover up the involvement of powerful officials.
• The government attempted to censor any online discussions that criticized it’s policies.
• The teacher decided to censor certain passages from the book before assigning it to younger students.

Example sentences with censure:

• The senator faced censure from his colleagues after violating ethical guidelines.
• Her reckless remarks drew public censure from community leaders.
• Despite widespread censure, the company refused to change it’s harmful practices.

Over to you…

Now it’s your turn! Try writing a few of your own sentences using these commonly confused words. It’s a fun way to test yourself, and strengthen your English vocabulary at the same time.