adieu vs ado

Side by side

adieu or ado?

What is the difference between adieu and ado?

adieu means "a farewell remark". ado means "a rapid active commotion". They are pronounced identically — /əˈdu/ — so only the spelling and the meaning separate them.

Which is more common, adieu or ado?

Neither is markedly more common — both sit in the "Familiar" band.

Are adieu and ado pronounced the same?

Yes. Both are /əˈdu/, said uh-DOO. Words that sound alike and are spelled differently are homophones, and they are the commonest source of written mix-ups in English.

Can adieu and ado be used in the same place in a sentence?

Both work as nouns, so they are grammatically interchangeable. That is exactly what makes the meaning difference worth checking.

Full entry for adieu · Full entry for ado · More comparisons