False friends: 7 deceptive English words

As a great actor once said, ‘You keep using that word, I do not think it means what you think it means.’

It’s universally acknowledged that English is a tricky language to master – even for native English speakers – thanks to its vast number of rules, illogical language patterns, and multiple etymological roots including Germanic, Latin and Greek. Plus, we add new words every year!

It gets even harder when certain words look like they should mean one thing, but they actually mean something completely different. Seriously, what if we told you many of the everyday words you use, you’re actually using completely wrong?

Enter, the false friend. False friends are a language trap everybody needs to watch out for. Defined as ‘a word or expression in one language that, because it resembles one in another language, is often wrongly taken to have the same meaning’, the metaphor could easily be extended to deceptive words within English.

We’ve compiled 7 such words and we’re going to explain what each word literally means, literally.

1. Luxuriant

We all love a little luxury in our lives. Plush seats, soft fabrics, delicious meals. Luxury is all about comfort and pleasure, and often associated with splendour and extravagance, take the mansion in Saltburn for example. So surely, if you wanted to describe luxury, you would say luxuriant? A common misconception we’re afraid. Luxuriant means rich or abundant in growth, such as a flourishing garden or someone’s flowing hair. For example, David Beckham’s hair may be luxuriant, but his car would be luxurious.

2. Infamous

Another classic word mix-up, infamous is often used by people to mean famous, but exceptionally so. For example, a restaurant might bill its popular dessert as ‘our infamous chocolate cake’. However, according to the dictionary, if something is infamous, it’s well-known because of something bad. Serial killers or outrageous politicians can be infamous or that restaurant’s chocolate cake if it also happens to be chocolate cake that causes mass food poisoning. See also, notorious.

3. Inflammable

If something is described as ineffective, we all understand that this means it is ‘not effective’ or ‘has no effect’. This is because in English, if something has the prefix ‘in-’, it more often than not means ‘not’. So surely if something is inflammable, that means it’s not capable of catching fire, right? Unfortunately not. Let’s go back to the etymology to understand the root of this misunderstanding. Both flammable and inflammable derive from Latin, with inflammare meaning ‘to cause to catch fire’ and flammare meaning ‘to catch fire’. In this case, the prefix ‘in-’ simply means ‘in’ or ‘into’. Point being, if something is inflammable, keep it far away from lighters, cigarettes, and sparks. Instead, look for non-flammable items.

4. Tortuous

Have you ever described your commute to work as tortuous? Maybe the train was jam-packed, or the traffic was an absolute nightmare. It felt like torture, admittedly low-level torture, so naturally you told your boss it was tortuous. The good news is, you might have been describing it correctly, but only if the journey was particularly winding or twisty. The word tortuous has nothing to do with torture, instead it means a road full of bends and twists, or something that is particularly long and complicated. For example, a project or a process could be tortuous but it’s not torture, it’s just overly complex and annoying.

5. Enormity

One of the beautiful things about languages across the world is that as time passes, the everyday words and phrases we use can adapt to suit current usage. New words enter the dictionary, old ones fade into obscurity, and words that have reliably served us for centuries take on new meanings. Enormity is one such word. While it now can be used to refer to the very great size, extent, or seriousness of something, such as a responsibility or a task, its origins are very different. It was originally used to describe someone’s quality or character as being outrageous, or as being extremely wicked. It could also be used to refer to an act of great wickedness or atrocities, meaning that originally, it had nothing to do with size.  

6. Fulsome

All praise is good, right? Not when it’s fulsome praise. The word fulsome has negative connotations, despite modern usage positioning it in a more positive way (think ‘full of praise’ or ‘generous praise’). But used properly, if you describe praise, apologies or even gratitude as fulsome, you’re technically saying that it was so exaggerated or elaborate it must be insincere. It comes from the Middle English fulsom, originallymeaning abundant, but coming to meandisgustingly excessive. The use of fulsome in a positive sense is common in journalism but should still be avoided otherwise.

7. Nonplussed

Nonplussed may be fun to say, but it’s highly deceptive. In modern usage, most people believe it means not bothered. For example, she was nonplussed by her colleague’s response to her email, or they were nonplussed by the delay to their flight. However, nonplussed derives from the Latin expression non plus, which literally translates as ‘no more’. Meaning, you’re confused and unsure how to react, and perhaps you can take no more of the situation you’re currently in. Synonyms for nonplussed include other more extreme reactions such as stunned, embarrassed and taken aback.

Have you met any other false friends in the English language? Send us your favourites on X / Twitter @CollinsDict.

By Rachel Quin
Rachel Quin is a freelance marketer and copywriter with a love of language, books and cats.

All opinions expressed on this blog are those of the individual writers, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of Collins, or its parent company, HarperCollins.