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Mischievious vs. Mischievous

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  Marius Alza  —  Grammar Tips
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Have you recently seen the word you knew as "mischievous" also spelled "mischievious" and are you not sure anymore about which one is correct? Well, there are plenty of words in English that differ only by one letter and which have both forms accepted. Unfortunately, this does not apply to the present situation.

Find out which form is correct and whether you should use "mischievious" or "mischievous" in your writing.

Mischievious vs. Mischievous

"Mischievous" is an adjective commonly used to describe a slightly bad, yet not serious, behavior. This word is present in all notorious English dictionaries and it can be found only spelled like this.

"Mischievious", therefore, is just a misspelling that is becoming more and more common due to the confusion that has been created between this form and its correct spelling. It is not an accepted form, anyway, at least not officially, so it will certainly be considered wrong. This word does not appear in any dictionary and should not even exist in any publication.

When do we use "mischievious"?

You should never use this form, especially if you are trying to write a grammatically correct text. "Mischievious" is nothing more than a misspelling of "mischievous". Even though it is a common mistake nowadays, try to avoid spelling it wrong because writing wrong words is not elegant and can damage the fluency of your text along with the impact of your message upon your readers.

When do we use "mischievous"?

"Mischievous" is the only correct and accepted form of this word. Whenever you want to use this adjective, you should always spell it like this.

Conclusion

Don't let yourself tricked by common spelling mistakes in English. Just because a word is used incorrectly frequently, it doesn't mean it is also right or officially accepted. English only considers "mischievous" spelled correctly, at least for the moment, so always use this version, if you are looking forward to writing correctly.

Mischievious vs. Mischievous

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1 Comment
  • robertl.00726
    I submit that the improper spelling/pronunciation COULD be accepted as a portmanteau of mischievous and devious that implies deliberate and/or ill intent as opposed to the playful naivete of mischief.
    LikeReply 42 years ago
    • rdd
      Portmanteau or not, it's still a misspelled and mispronounced form of a proper word. If it's acceptable to make up words at will that confuse the meaning, pronunciation, and/or spelling of correct words, there is no correct language, and English is dead. Hello Idiocracy. 
      LikeReply2 years ago

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