Afflict, Try, Torment, Torture and Rack mean to inflict upon a person something which he finds hard to bear.
Abstemious vs Abstinent
Abstemious means eating or drinking in moderation. Barb’s abstemious habits probably ensure her a longer life. Abstinent means abstaining from something (food, drink, etc.). The young men pledge to remain abstinent until age 21.
Affirmative vs Positive
Affirmative and Positive cause difficulties in their extended use, since each term has negative for its opposite and since both words may qualify identical or similar nouns.
Affect vs Effect
Affect and Effect are often a source of difficulty because both verbs imply the production of an effect and take as their corresponding noun the same word, effect.
Affect vs Influence vs Touch vs Impress vs Strike vs Sway
Affect, influence, touch, impress, strike and sway are more or less closely synonymous when they mean to produce or to have an effect upon a person or upon a thing capable of a reaction.
Affair vs Business vs Concern vs Matter vs Thing
Affair, business, concern, matter and thing come into comparison only when they are little more than vague or general terms meaning something done or dealt with.
Aesthete vs Dilettante vs Connoisseur
Aesthete, dilettante and connoisseur all designate a person conspicuous for his enjoyment and appreciation of the beautiful, the exquisite, or the choice.
Aeronautics vs Aviation
Aeronautics and aviation have to do with the operation of aircraft.
Aerate vs Ventilate vs Oxygenate vs Carbonate
Aerate is the general term and interchangeable in certain phrases with any of the others; the last three are specific terms which are not freely interchangeable with each other. Aerate means to supply or impregnate with air or to expose to the action of air. It frequently implies a mechanical process.
Advice vs Counsel
Advice, counsel and their corresponding verbs advise, counsel denote recommendation or to make a recommendation as to a decision or a course of conduct.
Advert vs Revert
Advert and Revert are sometimes confused because of a similar basic meaning when they are used in reference to discourse or contemplation.
Adverse vs Averse
Adverse and Averse are in origin and in common use contrasted rather than synonymous terms, though they are occasionally used as though similar in meaning.