Common means something shared by two or more people while mutual means reciprocal or directly exchanged. In other words, mutual suggests that the connection flows both ways, while common can be experienced in different ways by the same people.

Commendable means something deserving of praise while commendatory means expressing approval for something.

Collegial is the adjective associated with colleague while collegiate is the adjective associated with college. Collegial means a shared responsibility among colleagues while collegiate means to belong or relate to a college.

Collaborate means to work together on something while corroborate means to back up the reliability of something.

While cohabit and cohabitate have the same meaning, cohabitate is considered a newer word and is less widely accepted in the English language. If you’re not sure which one to use, stick with cohabit.

Closure is when something closes or resolves while Cloture is the process of ending a debate and voting on a legislative bill or similar matter.

Both climactic and climatic are adjectives – climactic is the adjective version of climax while climatic is the adjective corresponding to climate.

Benevolence refers to the trait of being kind or doing good while beneficence refers to the good deeds themselves.

Bale refers to a large wrapped bundle while bail means the temporary release of an accused person awaiting trial or to leave a situation quickly.

Clinch is a physical action while clinch means to achieve something.

Clean means to be free of impurities or irregularities, while cleanse means to make something thoroughly clean and is mostly used in a religious, moral or bodily purification sense.

Certainty and certitude mean the same thing in many situations. The subtle difference between both words lies in the reason why you think something is certain: certainty is often based on fact while certitude is generally a conviction of feeling or gut instinct.

Censor means to suppress parts of a book, film or other content that have been deemed unacceptable while censure means to express disapproval in a formal statement.

A citizen owes their allegiance to a government or collective sovereign while a subject owes their allegiance to an individual sovereign, such as a queen or king.

Classic means a recognised and established value, the study of ancient Greek and Latin history or a major sports tournament while classical refers to a long-standing style or form of ancient Greek or Latin culture.

Cite refers to a citation while site is a specific location.

Chord is a group of musical notes while cord is a piece of string made from twisted strands, ribbed fabric, or a measure of cut wood.

Childlike implies a positive connotation, such as innocence, while childish is a derogative term implying immaturity.