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Word List

The following list includes easily confused words as well as the preferred spelling and capitalization for words that are commonly used in CU-Boulder writing. For words not included here, consult a good dictionary. Typically, the preferred, U.S. (as opposed to British Commonwealth) spelling is listed first when there is more than one correct spelling.

For lists of additional words that fall into the easily confused or misused categories, consult The New York Public Library Writer’s Guide to Style and Usage or other current style guides. Section 7.90 in The Chicago Manual of Style is particularly helpful for determining whether certain categories of words (such as compound adjectives formed with well, little, and self) should be hyphenated.

One final comment about words: Bigger words aren’t always better than shorter words, so use the shortest correct word to help ensure clarity of meaning.

• 24/7
• advisor Not adviser. (A CU-Boulder preference . . . in spite of being the British Commonwealth rather than the U.S. spelling. Another such exception is theatre.)
• alum Abbreviation for alumnus or alumna. Avoid this abbreviation in formal copy.
• alumna Singular for female graduate; alumnae is the plural when referring to only female graduates.
  • Jennifer Jones is an alumna of CU-Boulder. The alumnae of Smith College include some notable women.
• alumni Plural for combination of male and female graduates or male graduates.
  • The alumni attending the celebration included several recent graduates.
• alumnus Singular for male graduate or singular for either a male or female graduate (as in the second example).
  • Jeffrey Jones is an alumnus of CU-Boulder.
  • If you are a CU alumnus, you are entitled to a discount on admission.
• assure/ensure/insure Assure is a verb used to convey the sense of reassuring someone of something. Ensure is a verb that means “to make sure that.” Insure is a verb reserved for use with reference to the insurance business.
  • I assured her that we would ensure that she was insured with our company.
• ATLAS Abbreviation for Alliance for Technology, Learning, and Society.
• Big 12 Not Big XII, which is copyrighted.
• Board of Regents Use the full name for first reference. Subsequent references may be styled as the regents or the board. Board of Regents is singular; regents takes a plural verb. No possessive apostrophe for the regents meeting.
  • The Board of Regents meets next week. Several regents are on vacation this week.
• Buffalo Preferred plural is Buffaloes (rather than Buffalos). Plural possessive is Buffaloes’. Capitalized because it’s the proper name of CU’s sports teams.
• Buff OneCard
• campuswide
• campus web portal
• chair Preferred over chairman or chairperson.
• checkout, check out Spell it as one word as a noun, two words as a verb.
  • Checkout is at 11:00 a.m. You may check out at the front desk.
• co- Use a hyphen when forming nouns, adjectives, and verbs that indicate occupation or status; do not hyphenate in other combinations: co-author, co-worker, coeducational, cocurricular, cooperate. college, the
• commencement Capped only when referring to a specific one.
  • Participants in the May 2007 Commencement enjoyed sunny skies.
• compose/comprise/constitute Compose means to create or put together. Comprise means to be made up of. “Comprised of” is redundant. Constitute means to be the elements of and may work best when neither compose nor comprise seem to fit.
  • The United States comprises 50 states. The United States is composed of 50 states.
  • Fifty states constitute the United States of America.
• course work
• credit hours
• CU NightRide
• cum laude Translates as “with distinction.” No italics for this and other commonly used Latin terms. (If it’s in Webster’s or another standard dictionary, it’s considered common enough to not require italics.)
• cyber Forms closed words, as in cyberspace.
• data Both a plural noun and a collective noun—i.e., it represents a unit—that can take a singular verb.
  • The data shows an increase in enrollment for fall 2006.
  • The data are conclusive, Professor Zion Tific said at last week’s news conference.
• database
• decision making No hyphen when used as a noun. Hyphenated only when used as an adjective immediately before a noun.
  • Decision making is a primary responsibility of department chairs. The decision-making process is rarely simple.
• department, the
• distinguished professors
• division, the
• doctoral/doctorate Doctoral is an adjective; doctorate is a noun.
• e.g. See i.e.
• e-mail Capitalize the e only when the term appears at the beginning of a sentence, in a heading, or on a form where other entries (such as Address, Phone) are capitalized. E-mail as a plural is a collective noun and does not take an s. Use e-mail messages.
• emeritus, emerita, emeriti Honorary title for retired professor: emeritus for a male professor, emerita for a female professor. Emeriti is plural for both male and female professors.
• entitled/titled Entitled means to have a right to something; titled refers to the name of something.
• Ethernet
• Euclid AutoPark
• every day/everyday The single word everyday is an adjective.
  • Crowds are becoming an everyday occurrence on CU bike paths. Every day a few more students decide to forego driving.
• faculty A collective noun referring to an institution’s entire teaching staff. It takes a singular verb. To refer to an individual who is part of a faculty, faculty member is preferred for clarity.
  • The faculty voted to develop a mentoring program. Ten faculty members volunteered to serve as mentors.
• federal No capital except when the term refers to an architectural style or is part of a formal name: the federal government, Federal Express, the Federal Housing Administration.
• female/woman Female can be an adjective or a noun; woman is a noun only. For clarity, careful writers use female as an adjective only and woman as a noun only.
  • The study showed that the increase in female professors was credited by female students as making a positive difference in their attitude toward the major. The department now has three women and nine men.
• full time Hyphenate only when used as an adjective immediately before a noun.
  • Larry is a full-time student. Leroy works full time in the admissions office.
• fundraising One word, no hyphen.
  • Fundraising is an important element of alumni activities.
• GPA Need not be spelled out on first use.
• gray Rather than grey, which is the British Commonwealth preference. (Unless, of course, Grey is part of a proper noun.)
• hard copy
• Hardrive Café
• high tech An adjective that has become so ubiquitous that it no longer needs the hyphen.
• homepage
• Honors Program
• i.e.; e.g. The abbreviation i.e. means that is. You can use it to restate something in different words, explain the meaning of a term or phrase, or give a complete list. The abbreviation e.g. means for example and is like using the phrase such as. You can use it to give an example or an incomplete list of examples. (Do not use etc. at the end of a phrase that begins with e.g.) Both i.e. and e.g. should be followed by a comma.
  • The university administration, i.e., the executive leaders, attended a retreat on Tuesday.
  • Several majors (e.g., business administration, economics, and chemistry) require strong mathematics backgrounds.
• in-house Hyphenate when it immediately precedes a noun.
• interdisciplinary
• Internet The worldwide research network of computers communicating in a common language—TCP/IP—over telephone or fiber-optic lines.
• intranet No cap for a private or in-house network.
• its/it’s Its is the possessive pronoun (remember: his, hers, its); it’s is the contraction of “it is.”
  • It’s possible that the department will offer additional sections of its most popular courses.
• JILA This is no longer an acronym and should be used as the name.
• Library, Norlin (the library and the building)
• login/log in This is one word when used as a noun or adjective, and two words when used as a verb. Log in is preferred over log on.
  • You must use your login name to log in to CUConnect.
• magna cum laude Translates as “with great distinction.” No italics.
• media A plural noun.
  • The media have begun to cover educational issues more frequently.
• midsemester
• midterm
• more than/over Over generally refers to spatial relationships. More than is preferred when quantifying something. But use over when referring to an amount of something that cannot easily be counted.
  • More than 50 students attended the special study session.
  • Nontraditional students are over 25.
  • Over 30 percent of the construc­tion has been completed.
• multicultural
• Net, the (without apostrophe) Abbreviation for the Internet; not recommended for most university copy. It’s considered slang.
• Nobel Prize Both Nobel and Prize should be capitalized, and the area in which the prize was won should be lowercased.
  • John “Jan” Hall won the Nobel Prize in physics in 2005.
• non- Most words beginning with non do not use a hyphen: nondegree, nonmajor, nonlegal, nonrefundable, nonresident. Exceptions include cases where the following word is a proper noun and when the resulting word would be unclear or confusing: e.g., non-tenure track.
• off campus (preposition plus noun)
  • The meeting will be held off campus.
• off-campus (adjective; hyphenated when it immediately precedes a noun)
  • Students are searching for off-campus housing.
• on campus (preposition plus noun)
  • The meeting will be held on campus.
• on-campus (adjective; hyphenated when it immediately precedes a noun)
  • First-year students are assigned on-campus housing.
• online (adjective, adverb)
  • The revised online version of this guide is scheduled for summer 2007. When it goes live, you’ll be able to look for additions and updates online.
• onscreen (adjective)
  • Shirley found the onscreen instructions helpful.
• on screen (adverb)
  • Proofreaders tend to miss more errors when they proof on screen than when they use hard copy.
• part time Hyphenate only when used as an adjective immediately before a noun.
  • Larry works in the office part time. Leroy is a part-time landscape architect.
• PASS/FAIL Use all caps and italicize.
• post- Most words formed with the post prefix are styled without a hyphen, unless the word begins with a capital or unless confusion would result: postdoctoral, postbaccalaureate, postgraduate, post-World War II.
• pre- Most words formed with the pre prefix are styled without a hyphen; do not hyphenate preadmission, precollegiate, prelaw, premedicine, prepharmacy, preprofessional, prequalify.
• Presidents Leadership Class
• President’s Teaching Scholars
• problem solving No hyphen when used as a noun. Hyphenate only when used as an adjective before a noun.
  • Problem solving can be learned only when an individual recognizes the value of problem-solving skills.
• re- In general, use a hyphen in compounds beginning with re only if the word following the re prefix begins with an e or if confusion would result: re-elect, re-establish, redo, rewrite, recover/re-cover.
• Regent AutoPark regents Lowercase when referring to individual members of the Board of Regents, unless used as part of a publication or personal title.
  • Regent Steve Bosley’s term ends in 2011.
• Reserve Officer Training Corps Note that Officer is singular.
• residence halls Preferred term (rather than dorms) in formal copy.
• résumé
• SAT Never spell out or use periods. It no longer is an acronym. It does not refer to anything except itself.
• since Sometimes used as a synonym for because, which is acceptable; however, for formal writing, careful writers reserve since when time, rather than causality, is implied.
  • Students have learned several new laboratory procedures since the semester began.
• statewide
• student-athlete Always hyphenate, whether used as a noun or adjective.
• summa cum laude Translates as "with highest distinction." No italics.
• theatre CU-Boulder preferred spelling.
• titled/entitled Entitled means to have a right to something; titled refers to the name of something.
• toward Not towards, which is the British Commonwealth form.
• Tuscan vernacular The official name for the CU-Boulder architectural style.
• university, the Do not capitalize when it refers generically to the University of Colorado or to one of its campuses. If there may be confusion, use an appropriate alternative such as the Colorado Springs campus.
• University Police This is the official name of the department, so it is capitalized.
• universitywide
• U.S. Use as an adjective only; spell out United States when used as a noun.
• Veterans Services Note there are no apostrophes
• wait list, wait-list Two words as a noun, hyphenated as a verb or adjective
• Web (noun) Shortened form of World Wide Web.
• web (adjective) Do not capitalize web when it serves as an adjective. Do capitalize Web when used as a noun (see above).
• webpage
• website
• work-study Always hyphenate, whether used as a noun or adjective.
• workload
• World Wide Web