6 Common Words You’re Using Wrong

It’s a common trope in spy thrillers for double agents to reveal their true identity after tricking everyone into thinking they were someone else. In the world of linguistics, you may find a similar phenomenon with certain words that people assume mean one thing, but that actually mean something different according to the dictionary. Many English speakers go about their lives using these tricky words incorrectly, but we’re here to uncover the correct meaning and usage behind them. 

The word “trimester” is primarily used in two contexts. It can refer to an academic period divided into three separate portions of relatively equal duration, or to the first, second, and third trimesters of pregnancy. In those contexts, the divisions are of equal length, so many people believe “trimester” refers to any three periods of equal length. That’s not quite the real definition. The dictionary tells us that a trimester is any period of three months, whether it’s one, three, or 300 trimesters. The related word “semester” comes from the Latin semestris, meaning “six months,” but it has come to refer to a half-year of school. 

“Suspect” is commonly used as a noun, meaning “one that is suspected,” and as a verb, meaning “regarded or deserving to be regarded with suspicion.” But it’s also commonly used incorrectly as an adverb. For instance, when a guilty-looking child insists they didn’t eat an entire box of Oreos, you might say, “I am suspect about your claims.” That’s the wrong use of “suspect,” and the word you’re looking for is “suspicious.” The adjective use of “suspect,” as in “I find your claims suspect” is correct, because as an adjective “suspect” means “regarded or deserving to be regarded with suspicion.”  In other words, the person doing the wrong is a suspect, while the person showing doubt is suspicious, and something suspicious is also suspect.

A boring movie or poorly written book may be described as “droll” by a person trying to convey that it felt rather dull and failed to pique their interest. But despite the similar spellings, “droll” is not actually a synonym for “dull.” “Droll” is correctly defined as “having a humorous, whimsical, or odd quality” — it’s synonymous with “amusing,” “comical,” and “clownish.” Use “droll” for the movie that makes you laugh out loud, not one that puts you to sleep.

The word “electrocute” comes from a combination of the prefix “electr-” — meaning “relating to electricity” — and the suffix “-cute,” which comes from “execute.” So it might shock you — pun intended? — to find that the word “electrocute” is used for only cases where a person is killed or severely injured by an electric shock. If you’re zapped by an outlet or get buzzed by static electricity, it’s apt to say “shocked” instead of “electrocuted.”

While the end goal of impeachment is often to remove a politician from office, the definition of “impeach” has nothing to do with expulsion. The term is simply defined as “to charge with a crime or misdemeanor.” Whether or not anyone is expelled from office thereafter is of unrelated concern, at least linguistically.

The word “pristine” is often understood as meaning “good as new” or “in beautiful condition,” but that’s not quite right. For example, let’s say a beach was littered with garbage, and good Samaritans cleaned it up. To describe the beach as pristine would be incorrect. That’s because the definition of the word is “belonging to the earliest period or state.” For a beach to be pristine, it would have to be clear of all human-made objects, including any houses, trails, or piers. The word “pristine” should apply to things that remain in an untouched state, such as an apple that hasn’t been bitten into or a perfectly white wall with no nail holes or marks.