English spelling, like English grammar, can take years to develop and master. Starting in preschool, children learn how to spell and use basic words. As students progress through grade levels, they are expected to know how to spell an increasing number of words.
These words become more complex and sometimes it seems the spelling rules go out the window.
The English language contains a lot of loan words from other languages including Spanish, French, and German. These words sometimes become common in everyday use, but they are also considered fair game for spelling bee competitions.
Spelling bees, particularly the Scripps National Spelling Bee, have been compared to sporting events with competitors sweating it out in front of a crowd and TV cameras all over the place. The pressure put on elite spellers during a spelling bee can be intense. So, how does one get good enough at spelling to compete in a national spelling bee like the elite level Scripps spelling bee? In a word: study. Easy and intermediate level words can usually be spelled out phonetically, but more advanced spelling words need to be memorized.
5th Grade Spelling Bee Words
What are some spelling bee words avid spellers should know? The fifth grade level is often pointed to as the standard for being a good speller in general. Below is a list of commonly used fifth grade spelling bee words according to Scripps.
canal, shilling, halter, basting, hornet, Viking, chapel, pouted, aspect, rotating, crooked, warmth, craggy, Icelandic, temple, engraved, newlyweds, protested, amusing, cinders, abroad, superb, Norse, custody, sullen, Bollywood, clambering, strident, severely, manure, intersect, slobbery, valuables, expensive, Venice, breakfast, salvation, unison, diagram, spinster, grocery, pastures, neglected, receptions, energetic, plantations, decent, survival, disguise, undesirable, tonic, enlisted tomes, levied, bookmobile, nursery, shortage, precise, roundabout, handiwork, balloonist, improvise, altitude, sparsely, musician, practically testament, simulate, disengage, Mohawk, exterior, scenery, opponent, allowance, committee, bulletin, hoarsely, automated, subdivision, heralded, appointed, regents, infraction, Pacific, affirmation, cipher* or cypher, administration, geometry, consecutive, scavenger, defensiveness, vegetation, sconces, Cyclops, aerospace, correctional, segregation, instantaneous, nausea, Chesapeake
If you can spell most of the above words from memory, you’re off to a great start. If the words above look like they are too difficult, consider starting with the list of elementary school words.
Elementary School Spelling Bee Word List
Below is a list of the Scripps spelling bee words for first, sixth, and eighth grade for reference. For a native English speaker, there are both easy and difficult spelling words in this list. A competent speller will know most of these words and their definitions from memory. (All words from https://spellingbee.com/)
1st Grade Spelling Words
red, see, fun, zoo, din, fall, fun, ask, lad, best. pay, hill, air, keep, fish, one, gills, path, rain, burp, tent, sick, code, maze, webs, boat, date, trim, yard, week, game, hope lake, sold, king, just, even, carry, yelp, jaws, mind, salt, city, eggs, away, pool, lunch, happy, lima, grapes, yummy, shy, dirt, spin, bugs, robe, safe, badly, vine, purr, done, crisp, face, next, mean, soggy, click, grade, wings, before, yawn, beets, twig, tabby, cage, wool, brand, paper, hurry, after, litter, holding, street, lift, fluffy, alarm, oink, mercy, lobby, alert, tiptoe, pillows, tinker, finch, blacktop, heater, morning, present, recess, pizza
6th Grade Spelling Words
warped, flail clanging, qualify, solely, refined, plodding, Japanese, advanced, sensible, beneath, penalty, mockingly, compartment, achieve, hoisted, doffing, banishment, furled, immune, volley, perish, dismissal, temporary, anthem, rebuked, garret, irked, prickliness, narration, dormer, realization, supposedly, ruefully, guise, pennant, fulcrum, recognition, governess, conquering, alabaster, tendrils, invariably, scrimmage, procession, writhing, rosette, medicinal, conservatory, miniature, accompany, fiddle-faddle, pronto, calculus, fugitive, percussion, siesta, hilarious, cooperage, paramedic, humanitarian, culprits, stagnant, diabolical, buzzard, martyr, garbanzo, cliques, antagonism, couriers, miscreant, peasantry, homily, suffocate, cavil, apprehend, guava, penitent, vexation, cherished, sturgeon, clavicle, damask, abolition, extricates, lustrous, diminutive, sepia, rivulets, barbarous, sagacity, gangrene, chilblains, Jacuzzi, pad thai, relinquish, Caribbean, hibiscus, jefe, Xanadu
8th Grade Spelling Words
pegasi, armada, promenade, vocational, reprimand, eclair, indelible, cologne, gondolier, muttonchops, cliches, impregnable, trenchant, catacombs, salutation, dervishes, consonants, velveteen, galleon, wastrels, redundancy, inertia, bronchitis, juniper, haberdashery, offal, garrison, felicitously, treacle, attenuated, valise, dissertation, recompense, piedmont, sumptuous, portentously, antecedents, gaiters, sachet, chloroform, metallurgy, Prague, balsam, emaciated, kelpies, corrugated, amethyst, chivalrous, phalanx, cyanide, galette, noisome, munificent, affidavit, glutinous, Babylon, docile, tetrarch, frippery, homo sapiens, ligatures, grenadier, canapes, voltaic, espionage, rapacious, prevaricate, acclamations, Harlequin, fascist, savanna, balaclavas, courteous, aphorism, diffidence, cinnabar, eviscerated, unguents, concertina, electrolysis, asseveration, lobelia, balustrades, expiation, flambeau, solomon, ambuscade, execrations, fuchsia, proboscis, exordium, Leipzig, phaeton, marengo, jacquerie, beryllium, ichor, tergiversation, mille-feuille, auf Wiedersehen
20 Most Misspelled Words
The list below contains the twenty most misspelled English words. These words are commonly used by English speakers and even though the words may be easy to read, they can be difficult words to spell correctly.
- Separate
- Definitely
- Manoeuvre
- Embarrass
- Occurrence
- Consensus
- Unnecessary
- Acceptable
- Broccoli
- Referred
- Bureaucracy
- Supersede
- Questionnaire
- Connoisseur
- A lot
- Entrepreneur
- Particularly
- Liquefy
- Conscience
- Parallel
One way to avoid misspelling the words above is to learn the spelling of one or two of these words each day. Spelling, like any other language skill, takes practice.
Hardest Spelling Bee Words
Below is a list of some of the hardest Scripps spelling words. These words tripped up champion spellers, so don’t feel too bad if they all seem foreign.
Word 1 – Insouciant
Word 2 – Eudaemonic
Word 3 – Smaragdine
Word 4 – Esquamulose
Word 5 – Elucubrate
Word 6 – Odontalgia
Word 7 – Staphylococci
Word 8 – Antipyretic
Word 9 – Xanthosis
Word 10 -Vivisepulture
Word 11 – Euonym
Word 12 – Chiaroscurist
Word 13 – Logorrhea
Word 14 – Prospicience
Word 15 – Autochthonous
Word 16 – Ursprache
Word 17 – Cymotrichous
Word 18 – Scherenschnitte
The hardest word to spell in English depends on the speller. As a challenge, try to remember how to spell two of the above words and you’ll likely have some winning words in your head the next time you participate in a spelling bee. If nothing else, you’ll be able to impress your friends with your knowledge of the most difficult words to spell.
Scripps National Spelling Bee Winning Words
Due to an eight-way tie, there were eight winning spelling words at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in 2019, a new record. In spelling bee competitions, a speller is eliminated for spelling a word incorrectly. A tie can occur if the number of allowable words or rounds reaches the limit, and more than one speller still remains.
The winning words in 2019 were:
- auslaut
- erysipelas
- bougainvillea
- aiguillette
- pendeloque
- palama
- cernuous
- odylic
The winning word in 2018 was koinonia. The winning word in 2017 was marocain and the winning spelling bee words in 2016 were Feldenkrais and gesellschaft.
All words from https://spellingbee.com/
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