What is the Difference?
Four kinds of this word, all sounding very similar but all meaning different things. Let’s take it slow and steady.
Abhorred (adjective past tense): To have hated in the extreme, despised, or detested.
Aboard (adverb): Inside a vessel, on board.
Abord (verb): To approach or come near, or to accost someone.
Abort (verb): To miscarry, cancel, or fail.
Examples
Abhorred
“I abhorred having to be in the same room as him, and I couldn’t wait for the court hearing to be over.”
“She always abhorred the smell of perfume, so when she liked his cologne it was very surprising.”
Aboard
“I’m going to tell the passengers to all come aboard, and soon the train will leave the station.”
“The sunset is so beautiful from aboard a ship floating in the middle of the ocean.”
Abord
“The stranger abord at me, demanding my money and threatening me with a knife.”
“Abord he crept in the shadows, and in minutes he was alongside the ship.”
Abort
“The woman had planned to abort her pregnancy, until she learned that there were thousands of families on a waiting list to adopt babies.”
“We have to abort the mission, it has become too dangerous.”
