Posts Tagged ‘discrete’

The better part of discretion?

Monday, May 19th, 2008

Here is a pair of words that sound exactly the same but have quite different meanings – yet I’m not sure any people realise there are two words instead of one with different uses.

discrete - distinct, separate, individual, referring to numbers
It was a series of discrete performances across the country.

discreet - tactful, subtle, unobtrusive
Her boss was very discreet about her illness.

To help remember which word is which, see how the t separates the es in discrete.