Covert means secret or hidden. Soldiers might take part in a covert mission to infiltrate an enemy camp — and you might take part in a covert mission to steal your brother's leftover Halloween candy.
Covert is the opposite of overt, which means obvious, or in full view. Covert things are hidden, private, or stealthy. It comes from the Old French covert, or "covered." A covert bag of chips you've snuck into the movie theater might literally be covered, hidden under your coat, while a covert plan to throw your dad a surprise party is just a secret.
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These words are two sides of the same coin: ways to get more or to make something go further. One side is about saving; the other is about spending less.
Warning! These similar sounding words have very different meanings. To prescribe is to recommend and to proscribe is to forbid. One little letter makes a big difference.
Both have to do with right and wrong, but amoral means having no sense of either, like a fish, but the evil immoral describes someone who knows the difference, doesn't care, and says "mwah ha ha" while twirling a mustache.
A correlation is exactly what it sounds like: a co-relation, or relationship — like the correlation between early birds waking up and the sun rising. But corollary is more like a consequence, like the corollary of the rooster crowing because you smacked it in the beak. Both words love the math lab but can hang with the rest of us, too.
Both words have to do with the mind, but it's more important to be conscious, or awake, than conscience, or aware of right and wrong. Remain conscious while listening to your friend's moral dilemma so you can use your conscience to give good advice.
Novelists, magicians, and other tricksters keep these words busy. Novelists love an allusion, an indirect reference to something like a secret treasure for the reader to find; magicians heart illusions, or fanciful fake-outs; but tricksters suffer from delusions, ideas that have no basis in reality.
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