Word Confusion: Award vs Prize vs Reward

Posted July 2, 2024 by kddidit in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

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This word confusion award vs prize vs reward was my own curiosity rising up. All three words seem so similar. Well, all three are nouns and transitive verbs — prize is also an adjective.

Award is a mark of achievement based on a broader range of criteria and bestowed in front of the public — think of the Golden Globes.

Prize involves individuals or groups competing against each other — think of the Olympics.

Reward is a kind of payment given to a person for their good work — turning in a lost wallet to the police that results in a monetary reward is one example.

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Exploring Later . . .

You may also want to explore “Pride vs Prize“, “Pries vs Prise vs Prize“, and/or “Accolade versus Acolyte“.

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Word Confusions . . .

. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.

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Award	Prize	Reward
Emmy Award by ITU Pictures is under the CC BY 2.0 license, via Flickr.	A Man Winning a Race by RUN 4 FFWPU is in the public domain, via Pexels. — He’ll take the prize for this race.	$1,000.00! One Thousand Dollars Reward! is in the public domain, via Timeless Moon and courtesy of the Nova Scotia Archives.
Part of Grammar:
Noun; Verb, transitive Plural for the noun: awards Gerund: awarding Third person present verb: awards Past tense or past participle: awarded Present participle: awarding	Adjective ¹; Noun ¹, ², and ³; Verb, transitive ³, ⁴ Plural for the noun: prizes Gerund: prizing Third person present verb: prizes Past tense or past participle: prized Present participle: prizing Variant spelling: prise	Noun; Verb, transitive Plural for the noun: rewards Gerund: rewarding Third person present verb: rewards Past tense or past participle: rewarded Present participle: rewarding
Noun: A prize or other mark of recognition given in honor of an achievement An amount of money paid to someone as an official payment, compensation, or grant The action of giving a payment, compensation, or prize Verb, transitive: Give or order the giving of (something) as an official payment, compensation, or prize to (someone) Grant or assign (a contract or commission) to (a person or organization)	Adjective: [Attrib., especially of something entered in a competition] Having been or likely to be awarded a reward ¹ Denoting something for which something of great value is awarded Excellent of its kind Outstanding Complete Utter Noun: A thing given as a reward to the winner of a competition or race or in recognition of another outstanding achievement ¹ A thing, especially an amount of money or a valuable object, that can be won in a lottery or other game of chance Something of great value that is worth struggling to achieve [Chiefly historical] An enemy ship captured during the course of naval warfare ² Leverage ³ [Chiefly Southern US] Something used as a lever or for prying Verb, transitive: Use force in order to move, move apart, or open something ³ Value extremely highly ⁴	Noun: A thing given in recognition of one’s service, effort, or achievement A fair return for good or bad behavior A sum offered for the detection of a criminal, the restoration of lost property, or the giving of information Verb, transitive: Make a gift of something to (someone) in recognition of their services, efforts, or achievements Show one’s appreciation of (an action or quality) by making a gift [be rewarded] Receive what one deserves
Examples:
Noun: The dinner was to celebrate the company’s annual award for high-quality service. Are you going to the award ceremony? It was a generous award given to promising young dancers. They were all hoping the award of an honorary doctorate was in their future. They gave an award of damages. Verb, transitive: He was awarded the Purple Heart. The 3.5 percent pay raise was awarded to the staff. The company was awarded a contract to refurbish the timber mill.	Adjective: It was a prize play. That was a prize move! No! Not Ms Jackson’s prize cow!? He makes his daughter’s husband feel like a prize idiot whenever they get together. Noun: She won a chocolate cake as her prize. Did you get a prize for winning? Your essay won a prize. Who won the Pulitzer Prize this year? Captain Nelson arrived back in port with five prizes. Verb, transitive: “It will add another grace to his triumph, and teach fair ladies to prize the love of valiant knights, who can exalt them to such distinction” (Scott, ch 8). The berries were prized for their healing properties. She prized her county fair trophy. “They are prized for their mild flavor and creamy texture” (Castle). They prized open the antique chest.	Noun: The holiday was a reward for 40 years’ service with the company. He’s reaping the rewards of his hard work and perseverance. These are the emotional rewards of being a parent. A slap on the face was his reward for his impudence. These are the rewards of lying to your boss. Verb, transitive: The engineer who supervised the work was rewarded with a bonus. An effective organization recognizes and rewards creativity and initiative. Their hard work was rewarded by the winning of a five-year contract.
Derivatives:
Adjective: unawardable, unawarded, well-awarded Adverb: awardable Noun: awardability, awardee, awarder, superaward Verb, transitive: misaward adverb	Adjective: prize-winning, prized, prizefight, prizefighter, prizefighting Noun: prize-winner	Adjective: rewardable, rewarding, rewardless Adverb: rewardingly Noun: rewarder
History of the Word:
Late Middle English in the sense issue a judicial decision (also denoting the decision itself) from the Anglo-Norman French awarder, a variant of the Old French esguarder meaning consider, ordain, from es- (from the Latin ex meaning thoroughly) + guarder meaning watch (over), based on a word of Germanic origin related to ward.	In Middle English the noun is a variant of price; the verb (originally in the sense estimate the value of) is from the Old French pris-, stem of preisier meaning to praise, appraise. Late Middle English from the Old French prise meaning taking, booty, from prendre meaning take. Late 16th century from dialect prise meaning lever, from the Old French prise meaning grasp, taking hold. From the Old French preisier meaning to praise.	Middle English from the Anglo-Norman French, a variant of the Old French reguard meaning regard, heed, a derivative of reguarder.

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C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!

Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Marketing Help & Resources, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Building Your Website.

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Resources for Award vs Prize vs Reward

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Apple Dictionary.com

Castle, Sheri. “A Guide to the Different Types of Field Peas.” Southern Living. Updated 22 Sept 2023. Accessed 30 June 2024. <https://www.southernliving.com/food/field-peas>.

Dictionary.com: award, prize,

The Free Dictionary: award, prize,

Scott, Sir Walter. Ivanhoe. Originally published 1819. SeaWolf Pres, 2020. <https://amzn.to/4eLOLG8>. Ebook.

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