Dear Geist,

Are the words forcefully and forcibly interchangeable? I can't tell from dictionary entries.

—James in Cyberspace

Dear James,

Forcefully and forcibly aren't interchangeable yet, but they're close. At this writing, forcefully means vigorously, strongly, powerfully; and forcibly means by force. So: “The onlookers chanted forcefully, and six of them were forcibly removed.” But in all the current English dictionaries we use, including the Oxford English, forceful has been listed as a second definition of forcible—meaning an acceptable definition, but not the preferred one. For word nerds, even tiny gradations of meaning are fascinating, and essential to the texture of language. But most people who speak or write English to communicate clearly do so every day, organically, and are well understood by others, and don't fret when language moves and changes, as it constantly does. That's how convince and persuade ended up with identical definitions, and comprise has got cozy with consist and constitute . . . but don't get us started. We're glad you asked about these two words, which are similar but not yet the same.

—The Editors