"More so" or moreso?
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?
Solution 1:
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".
Solution 2:
That Grammarist post is completely misleading, not to mention contradictory.
IF "More so strictly means that to a greater degree ...," then the word "more" is a crucial element of the sentence:
Gina is studious, and Eleanor is more so.
The sentence is stating that "Gina is studious," and that "Eleanor is more so." Meaning, while Gina is studious, Eleanor is MORE studious than Gina. Therefore the word MORE, is crucial.
You cannot simply replace the word "more" with "less" or "equally" because those two words are in no way equivalent to "more." If you stated that ... Gina is studious, and Eleanor is less so. ... you would be stating that Eleanor is LESS studious than Gina, and therefore it is not an equivalent sentence.
The logic behind the Grammarist site post on this topic is baffling, to say the least.
Anyways, in my opinion, while "moreso" is used MORE (not LESS or EQUAL TO) in the US than in other places, it would probably be wise to use the two-word version (more so) than the one-word, just because it is more widely acknowledged. Acceptance is a bit irrelevant considering the differences among many languages around the world.