adventuress, adventurous

The words adventuress, adventurous sound the same but have different meanings and spellings. Why do adventuress, adventurous sound the same even though they are completely different words?

The answer is simple: adventuress, adventurous are homophones of the English language.

adventuress
  1. :: noun

    A woman who seeks social and financial advancement by unscrupulous means. See Usage Note at -ess.

adventurous
  1. :: adjective

    Inclined to undertake new and daring enterprises.

  2. :: adjective

    Hazardous; risky.

Definitions from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition and Wordnik.

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About Homophones

Homophones (literally "same sound") are usually defined as words that share the same pronunciation, regardless of how they are spelled.

If they are spelled the same then they are also homographs (and homonyms); if they are spelled differently then they are also heterographs (literally "different writing").