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Discomfit vs Comfit - What's the difference?

discomfit | comfit |

As verbs the difference between discomfit and comfit

is that discomfit is to defeat completely; to rout while comfit is to preserve dry with sugar.

As an adjective discomfit

is discomfited; overthrown.

As a noun comfit is

a confection consisting of a nut, seed or fruit coated with sugar.

discomfit

English

Verb

(en verb)
  • (archaic) To defeat completely; to rout.
  • * 1611 , Bible: King James Version , (w) 17:13,
  • And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
  • * (Edmund Spenser)
  • And his proud foes discomfit in victorious field.
  • To defeat the plans or hopes of; to frustrate.
  • * 1886 , (Andrew Lang) The Mark Of Cain , chapter 10,
  • In these disguises, Maitland argued, he would certainly avoid recognition, and so discomfit any mischief planned by the enemies of Margaret.
  • (proscribed) To embarrass greatly; to confuse; to perplex; to disconcert.
  • * 1853 , , Villette , chapter 20,
  • She is a pretty, silly girl: but are you apprehensive that her titter will discomfit the old lady?
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=5 , passage=Then we relapsed into a discomfited silence, and wished we were anywhere else. But Miss Thorn relieved the situation by laughing aloud, and with such a hearty enjoyment that instead of getting angry and more mortified we began to laugh ourselves, and instantly felt better.}}

    Usage notes

    While widely used to mean “to embarrass, to disconcert”, prescriptive usage considers this a mistake (confusion with discomfort), and restrict discomfit to meaning “to defeat”.Discomfit zone]”, January 4, 2008, [http://www.grammarphobia.com/ Grammarphobia

    Synonyms

    * overthrow, vanquish * (frustrate) foil, thwart * abash, disconcert * See also

    See also

    * discomfort

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • (obsolete) discomfited; overthrown
  • (Webster 1913)

    References

    comfit

    English

    (wikipedia comfit)

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl)?. "comfit" , entry in Online Etymology Dictionary.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A confection consisting of a nut, seed or fruit coated with sugar.
  • See also

    * bonbon * discomfit

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To preserve dry with sugar.
  • * Cowley
  • The fruit which does so quickly waste, Thou comfitest in sweets to make it last.
    (Webster 1913)

    Etymology 2

    Acronym, from Computer Facial Identification Techniques .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (Australia) A computerised image of a suspect produced for the police force.
  • References