What are words pronounced or written in a similar way but have different meanings called?

Paronyms are words that are pronounced or written in a similar way but which have different lexical meanings. Paronyms contrast with homonyms, which are words with different meaning having the same pronunciation or spelling. Examples of paronyms include:

alternately and alternatively

collision and collusion

conjuncture and conjecture

excise and exercise

prolepsis and proslepsis

continuous and contiguous

affect and effect

upmost and utmost

deprecate and defecate

paronym and paronorm

Some paronyms are truly synonymous, but only under the rarest of conditions. They often lead to confusion.

The term paronym can also refer to words that are derived from the same root, i.e. cognate words.

More Info: en.wikipedia.org

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20 Comments

pamela h

hom·o·nym /ˈhäməˌnim,ˈhōməˌnim/ homonyms each of two or more words having the same spelling or pronunciation but different meanings and origins.

Hernando Villegas

Paronym is a word which is a derivative of another and has a related meaning. Homonym is each of two or more words having the same spelling or pronunciation but different meanings and origins.So, which one is correct?

Dileep Manjrekar

Correct answer should be HOMONYMS.

Raymond Cardona

If I remember correctly to my English grammar classes way back in elementary school the right answer is Homonym!! Bonnie

Special Patrol Group

Words which have different meanings, but are spelled the same and/or pronounced the same, are called homonyms - meaning that they're often tricky for children to master!

Pauline Davison

I believe this answer is incorrect and it should be homonym but what's the point of grumbling, Quizzclub doesn't take any notice.

Carl Wischner

That is the definition of a homonym.

Pat Salloum

A Paronym is a word which is a derivative of another word and has a related meaning such as wise and wisdom...so don't think I agree with this answer.

Denise Currie

Luckily when I saw who the author of the question was I opted for double chance, my first choice was obviously Homonyms which was wrong (although technically correct). Then I went to Paronym, not a word I am familiar with but I thought of parallel and worked from there, and this was correct. I have disliked and reported this as being an incorrect answer, will wait and see what happens