Learn English – “More so” or moreso

grammaticality

I often find myself using the two words joined together, moreso. I'm not sure where I picked up this usage. I'm also not sure that it's necessarily the correct one, as some proofreading tools will flag for not being a correctly-spelled word. Though I have seen it in multiple places when I've been looking for it, even on this site.

Is moreso generally accepted as being correct? Would it be correct to use in a serious paper?

Best Answer

Moreso and more so are both correct, but in different contexts.

Example:

Anna's performance was good, but Emma's more so.

In this example, the "so" in more so relates back to the statement of the quality of Anna's performance.

However,

I believed the novel was moreso about oppression than the human spirit.

In this case, there is no precedent to justify "more so", therefore "moreso" is used instead.

Be aware also that "moreso" is considered less formal than "more so".