ABCcount

discreet vs. discrete

Spell-check is no help here and neither is context, because both words turn up in the same professional register — legal writing, consulting, technical documentation. "A discrete enquiry" and "a discreet enquiry" are both plausible phrases with completely different meanings, and only one of them is what you meant.

discreet

An adjective meaning careful, tactful, unobtrusive — not drawing attention.

  • He made a discreet enquiry before raising it formally.
  • The office needed a discreet exit for clients.
  • She was discreet about the negotiation.
  • A discreet amount of perfume. (Meaning restrained — the sense that has nothing to do with secrecy.)

discrete

An adjective meaning individually separate and distinct.

  • The process has four discrete stages.
  • These are discrete problems and need separate solutions.
  • Discrete mathematics deals with countable structures.
  • Break it into discrete tasks before estimating.

Quick way to remember

Look at where the "e"s sit. In "discrete," the two "e"s are separated by a "t" — and the word means separate. In "discreet," they sit together, keeping quiet side by side.