#241a

Daily Telegraph, October 25, 2017

‘Upmost’ is a synonym of ‘uppermost’, meaning ‘the top’ in physical terms, eg ‘the upmost branches of the tree’. The word wanted here is ‘utmost’, meaning ‘greatest’ or ‘most extreme’, which is applied to sentiments such as respect.

Daily Telegraph, October 25, 2017

‘Discrete’ means separate or distinct when something is divided into parts, eg ‘the music was in three discrete sections’. Thus ‘indiscrete’ means ‘not in distinct parts’, which is not a word you often need, though presumably it applies to Kim Cattrall. The word wanted here is ‘indiscreet’, meaning she had talked about things she maybe should have kept quiet. There are many pairs of words which look and sound similar but mean quite different things, and unless you are certain you have the right one, look it up or look silly.

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