Confusing Words-24

Commonly Confused Words

1. Hole, Holistic & Whole 
Hole has the following meanings: 
1. An opening through something; gap; aperture.
Usage example: There was a gaping hole in the ceiling.
2. A hollow place in a solid body or mass; a cavity.
Usage example: The pipe was passed through the hole dug in the ground.
3. An embarrassing position or predicament.
Usage example: He found himself in a hole after paying the bills of his associate.

Holistic means emphasizing the organic or functional relation between parts and the whole. Usage example: Holistic therapies are not always helpful in treating chronic diseases.

Whole means: 
1. Containing all the component parts necessary to form a total; complete.
Usage example: The whole cake was finished in no time.
2. Containing all the elements properly belonging; complete.
Usage example: The whole set of plates was shipped free of cost.
3. Undivided; in one piece.
Usage example: He swallowed the whole egg without blinking.

2. Holey, Holy, Holly & Wholly
Holey means allowing passage in and out.
Usage example: Due to the mountainous terrain the northern border is very holey.

Holy has the following meanings:
1. Saintly; godly; pious; devout.
Usage example: The priest led a simple and holy life.
2. Inspiring fear, awe, or grave distress.
Usage example: The matriarch when angry is a holy dragon.

Holly: any tree or shrub of the genus Ilex, having bright red berries and shiny evergreen leaves with prickly edges.
Usage example: Christmas time is holy and holly time.

Wholly means entirely; totally; altogether; quite.
Usage example: Humanity, an essential quality was wholly missing in him.

3. Hoop & Whoop
Hoop has the following meanings: 
1. A rigid circular band of metal or wood.
Usage example: The hoop was made up of copper and aluminum entwined together.
2. Such a band for holding together the staves of a cask, tub, etc.
Usage example: Two people had to lift the heavy beer cask by the hoop on the sides.

Whoop means a loud cry or shout, as of excitement or joy.
Usage example: The children whooped with joy at the name of a visit to the zoo.

4. Hostel & Hostile 
Hostel refers to a supervised, inexpensive lodging place for travelers; especially, young travelers.
Usage example: Travelers often search for cheap hostels o stay in.

Hostile means unfriendly, antagonistic.
Usage example: The atmosphere at the party was unfriendly and hostile.

5. Hues & Whose
Hues mean a gradation or variety of a color; tint.
Usage example: The peacock on hearing the thunder spread his wings around him in resplendent hues of blue and green.

Whose means of whom; belonging to whom; of which; belonging to which: used as a relative pronoun. 
Usage example: Whose hair makes shahtoosh? Tibetan antelope.

6. Human & Humane 
Human means of, pertaining to, characteristic of, or having the nature of people.
Usage example: To err is a human frailty.

Humane means characterized by tenderness, compassion, and sympathy for people and animals, especially for the suffering or distressed. 
Usage example: The guard was appreciated for his humane treatment of prisoners.

7. Hurdle & Hurtle 
Hurdle means: 
1. (Athletics) one of a number of light barriers over which runners leap in certain events.
Usage example: The obstructions in the hurdle race test a person's skill and endurance.
2. To master (a difficulty, problem, etc.); overcome.
Usage example: The biggest hurdle in his life was his inability to judge people correctly.

Hurtle means: 
1. To rush violently; move with great speed.
Usage example: The ambulance hurtled down the main street to save the life of the patient.
2. To move or go noisily or resoundingly, as with violent or rapid motion.
Usage example: In the avalanche, the snow hurtled down all the sides of the mountain.

8. Hyperbola & Hyperbole 
Hyperbola is an open curve formed by a plane that cuts the base of a right circular cone.
Usage example: In a hyperbola the inclination of the plane to the base exceeds that to the side.

Hyperbole is an obvious and intentional exaggeration.
Usage example: An example of a hyperbole is that he would have given away his fortune for a good night's sleep.

9. Hypercritical & Hypocritical 
Hypercritical means excessively or meticulously critical; overcritical.
Usage example: He was not welcomed by his juniors as they found him hypercritical.

Hypocritical means of the nature of hypocrisy or pretense of having virtues, beliefs, principles, etc., that one does not actually possess.
Usage example: Politicians are invariably hypocritical as none of their campaign promises are delivered after the elections.

10. Practice & Practise
Both refer to a habitual way of doing something or a repeated exercise of an activity or skill.

In British English, practise is a used as a verb and practice is a used as a noun. In American English, the word 'practice' refers to both the verb as well as noun form.
Usage example: It must have taken a lot of practice to become an expert.

11. Prophecy & Prophesy
Prophecy is a noun which means 'prediction of future events'.
Usage example: The saint's prophecy proved to be correct.

Prophesy is a verb which means 'to predict or foretell'.
Usage example: Many seers had prophesied the catastrophe.