Sometimes, flipping a letter in a word can lead to quite radical results – like an entirely different definition. Such is the case with discreet vs. discrete.

Discreet means to conduct oneself in a prudent or judicious manner. To wit, Jane always was discrete about their liaisons when her lover’s spouse was with him.

Flip the last e with the t, however, and you get discrete, which means distinct or separate. For example, The introduction, body and conclusion paragraphs are discrete sections of an academic essay.

Here’s a quick memory trick for spelling the words: “The e’s are separate in discrete.”

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My name is Rob Bignell. I’m an affordable, professional editor who runs Inventing Reality Editing Service, which meets the manuscript needs of writers both new and published. I also offer a variety of self-publishing services. During the past decade, I’ve helped more than 300 novelists and nonfiction authors obtain their publishing dreams at reasonable prices. I’m also the author of the 7 Minutes a Day… writing guidebooks, four nonfiction hiking guidebook series, and the literary novel Windmill. Several of my short stories in the literary and science fiction genres also have been published.