Dictionary of Same-Sounding Words: I

Definitions of sound-alike words: I

ideal: mental image of perfection or excellence, as in: Pursue your ideal, even though others may not understand.
idle: inactive or ineffective, as in: She works all the time; I've never seen her idle.
idol: object that people worship, as in: He donated the golden idol he found to the museum.
idyll: pastoral poem or story, as in: The peaceful countryside looked like it would be a perfect setting for an idyll.
eligible: qualified for, as in: Every person who submits a new word this month is eligible to win the prize.
illegible: hard to read, as in: I have seen Web sites where the text was illegible because the background was too strong a design.
ineligible: legally disqualified, as in: In the U. S., a president who has been elected twice is ineligible to run again.
elicit: draw out, as in: The band's performances always elicit praise from the critics.
illicit: not allowed, as in: Illicit copying of another person's work is punishable by law.
allusion: indirect or casual mention, as in: No one made any allusion to the scandal while she was in the room.
illusion: presentation of a false or misleading idea, as in: The magician performed the illusion of sawing the woman in half.
delusion: mistaken belief of a confused state of mind, as in: He was under the delusion that he could fly.
elusion: evasion or clever escape, as in: The embezzlers celebrated their elusion of the police a little too soon.
elusive: hard to catch or grasp, as in: The solution to the problem proved more elusive than they first thought.
illusive: deceptive or unreal, as in: Lost in the desert, he saw an illusive oasis called a mirage.
imitate: try to act like or be like, as in: Most young children imitate their parents.
intimate: suggest or imply, as in: When I talked with her last week she didn't intimate anything about her plans.
emerge: come out of something enclosed, as in: Out of four candidates, you emerge as the favorite.
immerge: plunge into (same as immerse), as in: Immerge the burn in cold water to minimize the skin damage.
immerse: plunge into, as in: Sometimes we get so immersed in our work, we forget how much time has elapsed.
emigrate: move out of a country, as in: My neighbors decided to emigrate to New Zealand while the children were still young.
immigrate: move into a country, as in: My mother immigrated to this country from Lithuania.
emanate: flow out from, as in : She was so creative that ideas just seemed to emanate from her.
eminent: outstanding, as in: Steven Hawking is one of the most eminent thinkers of our time.
imminent: impending, as in: When she heard a storm was imminent, she backed up her work and unplugged the computer.
immunity: freedom from a natural or usual liability or obligation, as in: Even though he admitted the accident was his fault, the Ambassador claimed diplomatic immunity and could not be sued.
impunity: freedom from punishment of any kind (usually phrased "with impunity"), as in: When the Police Department went on strike, the usually law-abiding citizens broke traffic laws with impunity.
(Thanks to Connie Hagar of Riverside, California for submitting this word set.)
imply: point to a conclusion indirectly, as in: Do you mean to imply that it is all my fault?
infer: draw a conclusion, as in: From your tone of voice, I infer that you are angry.
in to: two words, an adverb and a preposition, as in: Even though it was supposed to be her day off, she came in to finish her monthly report.
into: entering or changing form, as in: She drove into the parking lot and found a space.
inane: silly and pointless, as in : Those two students wasted our class time by asking inane questions.
insane: mentally deranged or acting that way, as in: They must have been insane to try to outrun the train.
incidence: frequency of occurrence, as in: There was a high incidence of cancer near the chemical plant.
incidents: events or happenings, as in: Two funny incidents happened at school today.
incinerate: burn up completely, as in: The safest way to dispose of this medical waste is to incinerate it.
insinuate: slyly suggest something unpleasant, as in: To win the case, the attorney tried to insinuate the witness was lying.
incite: motivate, as in: We should incite one another to love and fine works.
insight: understanding, as in: She was a good teacher because of her insight into the problems facing her students.
indict: accuse formally, as in: The Grand Jury has enough evidence to indict him.
indite: write down or compose, as in: The President has an assistant to indite his speeches.
indigenous: native, as in: Koalas are indigenous to Australia.
indigent: poor and in need of money, as in: The county hospital provides care for medically indigent adults.
indignant: righteously angry, as in: People became indignant when the corruption of the local officials was exposed.
ingenious: clever, imaginative, or inventive, as in: He developed an ingenious solution to our problem.
ingenuous: candid, frank, guileless, as in: They grew to love him because of his sincere and ingenuous nature.
inhabit: live in or on, as in: Many rare animals inhabit the island.
inhibit: hold back or restrain, as in: Cleanliness will inhibit the growth of germs.
insoluble: cannot be dissolved, as in: Grains of sand are insoluble in water.
insolvable: cannot be solved, as in: She stumped them all with an insolvable riddle.
insolvent: not able to pay debts, as in: If we don't increase our sales quickly, the company may become insolvent.
instance: case or example, as in: In this instance, I must disagree with you.
instants: very short periods of time, as in: I looked away for just a few instants, and when I looked back he was gone.
assure: declare positively, as in: I assure you that I will be finished by next Tuesday.
ensure: make sure, as in: Order today to ensure delivery by Monday.
insure: cover by insurance, as in: This company will insure the data on my hard disk as well as the computer itself.
intelligent: able to understand and to reason well, as in: Her answer showed her to be an intelligent young woman.
intelligible: capable of being understood, as in: With my mouth full of food, I was unable to make an intelligible reply to the question.
intense: very strong or of a high degree, as in: I had an intense craving for chocolate right then.
intents: aims or purposes, as in: Although we see other people's actions, we don't always know their intents.
interstate: between or among two or more states, as in: Federal laws cover interstate commerce.
intestate: without making a will, as in: If a rich person dies intestate, courts decide who inherits the money.
intrastate: within one state, as in: State laws cover intrastate commerce.
erasable: capable of being rubbed out or removed, as in: Don't use an eraseable pen when doing your bookkeeping records, because these records are supposed to be permanent.
irascible: easily provoked to anger, as in: After years of enduring chronic pain, he became so irascible it took courage to go visit him.
aisle: passageway, as in: When I travel by air, I usually get an aisle seat.
isle: small island, as in: What book would you wish for if you were stranded on a desert isle?
it's: contraction of it is, as in: It's so nice to see you again.
its: belonging to it, as in: The cat licked its paw.

This list of definitions can't replace your dictionary. Rather than discussing every possible meaning of the words on this list, I try to show how one word differs from another in a group of words that sound or look very much alike.

[Word list: I] [Definitions: J]

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