Hard Words to Spell for 6th Graders

If you want to challenge yourself with very hard words to spell at the sixth-grade
level, then this collection might be just what you’re looking for:

 Noticeable (Correct) / Noticable (Incorrect)

 Vacuum (Correct) / Vacume (Incorrect)
 Recommend (Correct) / Recomend (Incorrect)
 Occasion (Correct) / Ocassion (Incorrect)
 Beginning (Correct) / Begginning (Incorrect)
 Government (Correct) / Goverment (Incorrect)
 Committee (Correct) / Comitee (Incorrect)
 Mississippi (Correct) / Missisipi (Incorrect)
 Ancient (Correct) / Ainshent (Incorrect)
 Culture (Correct) / Culcher (Incorrect)

Hard Words to Spell for 7th Graders

In a time when spellcheck comes with every computer writing program, we may
lose sight of terms in this list of hard words to spell:

 Chaos (Correct) / Kaos (Incorrect)

 Accommodation (Correct) / Accomodation (Incorrect)
 Strengthen (Correct) / Strengten (Incorrect)
 Misspelled (Correct) / Mispelled (Incorrect)
 Deceive (Correct) / Deseave (Incorrect)
 Receipt (Correct) / Receit (Incorrect)
 Arithmetic (Correct) / Arithmatic (Incorrect)
 Embarrass (Correct) / Embaras (Incorrect)
 Constitution (Correct) / Constatution (Incorrect)
 Encyclopedia (Correct) / Encyclopaedia (Incorrect)

Hard Words to Spell for 8th Graders

Here are hard to spell words spell for middle-school teenagers, particularly
those in the 8th grade. Can you spell them without using spell-check?

 Pneumonia (Correct) / Neumonia (Incorrect)

 Acknowledgment (Correct) / Acknoledgement (Incorrect)
 Accidentally (Correct) / Accidentilly (Incorrect)
 Descendant (Correct) / Desendent (Incorrect)
 Exaggerate (Correct) / Exagerate (Incorrect)
  Courageous (Correct) / Corageous (Incorrect)
 Competent (Correct) / Compitent (Incorrect)
 Patriarch (Correct) / Patrearch (Incorrect)
 Pediatrician (Correct) / Pidiatrision (Incorrect)
 Picturesque (Correct) / Picturesche (Incorrect)

Hard Words to Spell for 9th Graders

In your first year of high school, you will likely encounter some of the hardest
words to spell ever. Check out this list for 9th grade:

 Cavalcade (Correct) / Cavacade (Incorrect)

 Conscientious (Correct) / Consciescience (Incorrect)
 Fluorescent (Correct) / Florescent (Incorrect)
 Martyr (Correct) / Marter (Incorrect)
 Olfactory (Correct) / Ofactory (Incorrect)
 Facsimile (Correct) / Faximile (Incorrect)
 Gruesome (Correct) / Grewsome (Incorrect)
 Incessant (Correct) / Incessent (Incorrect)
 Reservoir (Correct) / Resavoire (Incorrect)
 Spasmodic (Correct) / Spasmodick (Incorrect)

Hard Words to Spell for 12th Graders

As you advance through educational levels, you will be introduced to more

reading assignments and will grow your vocabulary. These are the hardest
English words to spell at the 12th-grade level:

 Acquiesce (Correct) / Aquese (Incorrect)

 Ambiguous (Correct) / Ambiguus (Incorrect)
 Stringent (Correct) / Stringint (Incorrect)
 Evanescent (Correct) / Evansent (Incorrect)
 Querulous (Correct) / Quarelous (Incorrect)
 Spontaneity (Correct) / Spontenaity (Incorrect)
 Tenacious (Correct) / Tenashus (Incorrect)
 Divergent (Correct) / Divergeant (Incorrect)
 Resilient (Correct) / Resiliant (Incorrect)
 Renovation (Correct) / Renovashun (Incorrect)

Hard Words to Spell for College Students

Technology has made learning the hardest words to spell a rare activity. This list
of 10 terms is considered to be college-level. See if you’re able to spell them
without help:

 Pharaoh (Correct) / Farow (Incorrect)

 Intelligence (Correct) / Inteligense (Incorrect)
 Didactic (Correct) / Didachtik (Incorrect)
 Pronunciation (Correct) / Pronounsiation (Incorrect)
 Gobbledegook (Correct) / Gobblydigook (Incorrect)
 Euphemism (Correct) / Yufamism (Incorrect)
 Abrogate (Correct) / Abrohgate (Incorrect)
 Demagogue (Correct) / Demagog (Incorrect)
 Facetious (Correct) / Faseshus (Incorrect)
 Hyperbole (Correct) / Hyperboly (Incorrect)

Common Words that Are Hard to Spell

This list includes common hard words to spell for adults. It’s surprising how so
many people struggle but all you have to do is check the web for examples of
this happening:

 Thorough (Correct) / Thorogh (Incorrect)

 Rhythm (Correct) / Rythm (Incorrect)
 Peculiar (Correct) / Pechuliar (Incorrect)
 Buffet (Correct) / Bufay (Incorrect)
 Liaison (Correct) / Liason (Incorrect)
 Anecdote (Correct) / Anechdote (Incorrect)
 Anonymous (Correct) / Anonimous (Incorrect)
 Collaborate (Correct) / Colaborate (Incorrect)
 Substantiate (Correct) / Substanchiate (Incorrect)
 Reconciliation (Correct) / Reckonsiliation (Incorrect)

Long Hard Words to Spell

Sometimes multisyllabic words that are hard to spell are difficult because we
don’t think about silent letters that may appear anywhere. Check these out
below:

 Grammatically (Correct) / Gramatically (Incorrect)

 Magnanimous (Correct) / Magnanimus (Incorrect)
 Metamorphosis (Correct) / Metamofisus (Incorrect)
 Satisfactorily (Correct) / Satisfactory (Incorrect)
  Surveillance (Correct) / Surveylance (Incorrect)
 Unanimous (Correct) / Unianomous (Incorrect)
 Reconciliation (Correct) / Reconsiliation (Incorrect)
 Procrastinate (Correct) / Procrastanate (Incorrect)
 Ostentatious (Correct) / Ostantatious (Incorrect)
 Camaraderie (Correct) / Comraderie (Incorrect)

Super Hard Words to Spell

These are really hard words to spell, even for the best English spellers in the
world. As you can see most are words familiar to medical professionals and
scientists, so unless you’re familiar with the field you are likely to have trouble
with them:

 Syllepsis (Correct) / Sylepsis (Incorrect)

 Antediluvian (Correct) / Antidiluvian (Incorrect)
 Crustaceology (Correct) / Crustaciology (Incorrect)
 Epidemiologist (Correct) / Epidimialogist (Incorrect)
 Ophthalmologist (Correct) / Optamologist (Incorrect)
 Nephrology (Correct) / Nefrology (Incorrect)
 Entomology (Correct) / Entimology (Incorrect)
 Chiaroscurist (Correct) / Chiaraschurist (Incorrect)
 Logorrhea (Correct) / Logoria (Incorrect)
 Sacrilegious (Correct) / Sacriligious (Incorrect)

Easy Words that Are Hard to Spell

Finally, this last set includes hard words to spell that is considered easy. Take
your time spelling these out because you may find yourself feeling a bit
embarrassed if you make a simple mistake:

 Acquire (Correct) / Akwire (Incorrect)

 Argument (Correct) / Arguement (Incorrect)
 Maintenance (Correct) / Maintanence (Incorrect)
 Gauge (Correct) / Ghage (Incorrect)
 Memento (Correct) / Mamento (Incorrect)
 Occurrence (Correct) / Ocurrance (Incorrect)
 Questionnaire (Correct) / Questionaire (Incorrect)
 Sergeant (Correct) / Sargeant (Incorrect)
 Weather (Correct) / Wheather (Incorrect)
 Awkward (Correct) / Awkwerd (Incorrect)
1. necessary

One of the things that makes English hard to spell is that there are letters that can—but don’t always
—make the same sounds, such as c and s. This, combined with the use of double consonants that
don’t change how the word is pronounced, makes necessary tricky to spell. How do you remember
where and how many c or s letters you need? Well, take a look at the word. Do you “c” two s‘s? Ask
yourself this to make sure there is first one c and then a double s in necessary.

2. narcissistic

Similar to necessary, narcissistic is challenging to spell because of the c and s letters that make the
same sound. It can also be hard to remember where to place the double s. It might help you to know
that the word narcissistic ultimately comes from the Greek nárkissos, a plant name associated
with narcotics.

3. occasion

The word occasion also features the letters c and s, but here they are not making the same s sound.
Part of what makes spelling this word challenging are the hard c (like a k) sounds, spelled with a
double c. This double c comes from the Latin origin of the word, the equivalent of the
prefix oc- combined with the verb cāsus, meaning roughly “to have befallen.” Also, you may be
tempted to add another s, but there is only one in occasion.

⚡️What makes English a difficult language to spell?

Why exactly does English have so many different rules and variations when it comes to spelling?
Learn a thing or two about its messy history here.

4. accommodate

The word accommodate also uses a double c … and throws in a double m for good measure. But
what makes spelling this word tricky isn’t the consonants, but rather the vowels. The
word accommodate [ uh–kom–uh-deyt ] sounds as if it could be spelled with three o‘s, or maybe
there is a u in there? But no, there are no u‘s and the first letter is an a, of all things.

5. vacuum

Speaking of words with double c, one word you might expect to have such a spelling but does not
is vacuum. Instead of a double c, vacuum features the rare double u (continuum and muumuu are
others with this strange combination). The word comes from the Latin vacuus, meaning “empty.”

6. accessory

The word accessory breaks the pattern we have seen so far (remember what we said about the rules
of English spelling being inconsistent?). Unlike accommodate, where the double c makes a
single k sound, in accessory, the first c makes a k sound, and the second c makes an s sound. Throw
in a double s, and accessory is a real challenge to spell correctly.

7. broccoli

Broccoli also features a double c to make a k sound. Besides this complication, you may be tempted
to spell the ending with a y or ee to make the lee sound. However, broccoli is a word that comes
from Italian, where the ee sound is represented with the letter i.
8. zucchini

Similar to broccoli, zucchini is a word from Italian that uses an i at the end to make an ee sound and
has a double c that makes a k sound. If this spelling trips you up too much, you could try the British
English word for zucchini instead, which comes from French: courgette [ koor-zhet ].

9. spaghetti

Another word with Italian origins that is a challenge to spell is spaghetti. The letter i at the end of a
word in Italian indicates that it is plural. (Technically, a single spaghetti is a spaghetto.) The nearly-
silent h might also throw you off when spelling this word.

Bite into more funny tidbits about words with uncommon singular forms here.

10. embarrass

Another word we aren’t embarrassed to admit can be hard to spell is, well, embarrass. One thing
that might trip you up is the ending—it sounds like uhs, but is spelled, well, ass. Another thing that
makes spelling embarrass difficult is the double r and double s. What explains both of these tricky
elements is that embarrass was adopted into English from the Portuguese embaraçar via the French
verb embarrasser.

11. bourbon

Speaking of words that come from French throwing us curveballs, another tricky one is bourbon. In
English, we use an anglicized pronunciation of this word: [ bur-buhn ], but we have kept the French
spelling. The difference between these two is what makes spelling this word hard—just try to
remember there are two o‘s, not just one.

12. charcuterie

The French have a very different system of spelling, which can make it confusing when we adopt
their words into English. One example of this is charcuterie. In French, the letters char are
pronounced shahr. That’s why this fancy word for “cooked, processed, or cured cold meats” (like
sausage and pâté) is spelled with a ch instead of the sh you might expect.

13. entrepreneur

Yet another word whose French spelling makes it a challenge for English speakers
is entrepreneur [ ahn-truh-pruh–nur ]. Because it starts with an ah sound, you may think it includes
an a, but that’s not the case. Next time you write this word, remind yourself that most of the vowel
sounds are e‘s, except for the eu at the very end for the oor sound.

14. liaison

The word liaison also has French origins. You may be tempted to spell it phonetically: lee-ay-zon.
However, much like the i at the end of Italian words, the i in French can make an ee sound. That
might help you remember that liaison has two i‘s.

15. Connecticut

Of course, French and Italian are not the only foreign languages whose words have been adopted
into English. Many place names in the United States come from the Indigenous languages of those
areas, and these spellings can be difficult. One example is Connecticut, which is pronounced [ kuh–
net-i-kuht ], but is spelled “Connect I Cut.” The word comes from the Mohegan-Pequot language and
means “upon the long river.”

16. Massachusetts

Another example of this is Massachusetts, named for the tribe of Algonquin people who lived there,
whose name means “at the large hill.” This word is particularly challenging to spell because you may
be tempted to double the second s … especially because there is a double t at the end.

Did you know Massachusetts is a commonwealth? Learn the difference

between commonwealth and state here.

17. epitome

Words that come originally from Greek are also challenging to spell. One example is epitome [ ih-pit–
uh-mee ]. The word sounds like it ends in a y or ee, but it doesn’t. One reason for this is because,
similar to Italian, all of the vowels from Greek words are pronounced—no silent e here.

18. asthma

Speaking of silent letters, English has a remarkable number of them we use when spelling. There is
no way to know these letters ought to be there unless you are familiar with the word. One example
of this is asthma, which has a silent th. That’s right, English sometimes will throw in a silent th, just
to keep you on your toes.

19. indict

Another word with a deceptive silent letter is indict [ in-dahyt ]. You don’t pronounce the letter c in
this word, so you may forget to include it when spelling. The c is a holdover from its late Latin
origins, indictāre, related to the English verb dictate.

20. gnaw

We have seen silent th and silent c, but we would be remiss not to mention the silent g that pops up
from time-to-time in English. One example of a word with a silent g is gnaw [ naw ].

21. phlegm

Silent g‘s do not only appear at the beginning of words; they can show up in endings as well. One
example of this is phlegm [ flem ]. This word is also tricky because it uses the letters ph to make
a ff sound. This way of writing the ff sound can be found in words from Greek, such
as phlegm and phone.

22. paradigm

Another example of a word from Greek with a silent g is paradigm, from the Greek parádeigma.
Based on the way this word is pronounced, you would expect the ending to be spelled dime,
not digm.

23. pneumonia

Another silent letter you may come across sometimes is a silent p, as in pneumonia [ noo–mohn-
yuh ]. Even if you remember that silent p, the word pneumonia is still tricky because of the oo sound,
spelled with an eu.

24. island
The letter s is also occasionally silent in English. One word you have likely come across that uses a
silent s is island. The s was added to the word via isle, a word ultimately derived from Latin and
meaning “a small island.”

25. rhythm

The word rhythm is particularly challenging to spell. It has two h‘s, but one is silent and the other is
used in the diphthong th. It also sounds as if it should have a u [ rith–uhm ], but it
doesn’t. Rhythm comes from the Greek rhythmós, a clue that might help you remember its spelling
in English.

26. Wednesday

The word Wednesday [ wenz-dey ] is particularly challenging to spell because the d is

silent. Wednesday comes from the Old English for “Woden’s day”; Woden is what the pagan Anglo-
Saxons called the Norse god Odin. Keeping Woden—or Odin—in mind is a good way to remember
that pesky d.

27. eight

The word eight is a homophone of the past participle of “to eat,” ate. That’s not the only thing
confusing about this old word. The ending is spelled ight which we associate with words
like bright and tight. Here, however, this combination of letters is pronounced [ eyt ] instead.

English is full of homophones galore! Read about some of familiar pairs here.

28. acquiesce

Another word that contains some confusing letter combinations related to how it is pronounced
is acquiesce [ ak-wee-es ], a verb meaning “to assent tacitly; agree.” The word comes from the
Latin acquiēscere, meaning “to find rest in.” One thing to keep in mind when spelling this word is
that ac- is a prefix meaning “toward” or “to.” That means the word breaks down as ac-qui-esce,
which may help you spell it correctly.

29. nauseous

The word nauseous [ naw-shuhs ] appears to have just way too many vowels. Like the
tricky acquiesce, nauseous comes from Latin. Nauseous means you suffer from nausea, a word that
looks practically nautical (nau and sea). If you take the a off of nausea and add the common
adjectival ending -ous, you have the correct spelling of nauseous.

30. conscious

A word with the same ending as nauseous that is also tricky to spell is conscious [ kon-shuhs ]. It may
help you to spell it if you remember that it comes from the Latin conscius, meaning “sharing
knowledge with,” equivalent to con-(with) + sci- (know) + -us (-ous, indicating an adjective).

31. grateful

One of the biggest challenges when it comes to spelling words in English are the number of
homophones, or words that sound the same but are spelled differently. That’s why you may be
tempted to spell the word grateful with an ea, as in great. However, grateful comes from the
obsolete grate, meaning “pleasing,” not the word great, as in “large.”

32. separate
The word separate is tricky because the second vowel sound is spelled with an a and not a u or e,
even though in many accents it sounds as if it should be.

33. lightning

Finally, there are some words in English that seem as if they should have more letters than they do.
One example of this is lightning [ lahyt-ning ]. The unusual combination of tn may throw you off
here. However, adding an e would make the word lightening, which has another meaning
altogether.

Lengthy Words Hard to Spell

English is a beautiful yet complex language, even for native Speakers. Apart from
the typos, at certain times, people with good fluency also find it difficult to spell long
words. The following are some long words that are hard to spell.

1. Antidisestablishmentarianism
2. Spectrophotofluorometrically
3. Floccinaucinihilipilification
4. Pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism
5. Hepaticocholangiogastrostomy
6. Psychoneuroendocrinological
7. Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis
8. Tergiversation
9. Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia
10. Trichotillomania
11. Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis
12. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

Difficult Words to Spell in the English Language

In English, you can find several hardest words to spell. At times, the spelling and
pronunciation of certain words will mismatch. So, possibilities are there for you to get
held in trouble. Here is a list of some words with difficult spelling.

1. Abacaxi
2. Abgesang
3. Logorrhoea
4. Pochemuchka
 5. Autochthonous
6. Aitch
7. Gobbledegook
8. Chiaroscurist
9. Coelacanth
10. Minuscule
11. Kierkegaardian
12. Fuchsia
13. Sacrilegious
14. Nauseous
15. Playwright
16. Gubernatorial
17. Paraphernalia
18. Chiaroscuro
19. Logorrhea
20. Zucchini
21. Neapolitan
22. Aluminoso
23. Aequeo

Easy words that are hard to spell

In English, certain commonly used easy words often get misspelled. Here, let us take
a look at the list of the easiest words that are hard to spell.

1. Misspell
2. Pharaoh
3. Cemetery
4. Weird
5. Accommodate
6. Intelligence
7. Occasion
8. Calendar
9. Pronunciation
10. Handkerchief

Tricky Homophones to Spell

Typically, homophones sound the same but have different spellings and meanings.
The following are some homophones that are hard to spell.
 1. Week and weak
2. Hair and hare
3. Flour and flower
4. Dear and deer
5. Die and dye
6. Blue and blew
7. Fair and fare
8. Witch and which
9. Hole and whole
10. Profit and prophet
11. Hear and here
12. Morning and mourning
13. Knot and not
14. Peace and piece
15. Complement and compliment

Hard Words to Spell for School Students

The following are some English words that school students commonly write wrong.

1. Chaos
2. Pneumonia
3. Liaison
4. Corollary
5. Confetti
6. Defalcation
7. Bizarre
8. Braggadocio
9. Echelon
10. Panache
11. Diarrhea
12. Insouciant
13. Autochthonous
14. Sacrilegious
15. Sesquipedalian

Hard Words for College Students to Spell

Here is a list of hard words that college students find difficult to spell.

1. Condescend
 2. Discernible
3. Unanimous
4. Contemptuous
5. Parachute
6. Vengeance
7. Acerbic
8. Expunge
9. Penurious
10. Insidious
11. Resplendent
12. Bouillon
13. Saccharine
14. Presbyterian
15. Scurrilous
16. Boulevard
17. Superintendent
18. Teutonic
19. Abysmal
20. Bourgeois

Hard Words to Spell for Adults

The following is a list of words that adults often misspell.

1. Acquiesce
2. Andragogy
3. Criterion
4. Holistic
5. Incongruous
6. Juxtaposition
7. Malapropism
8. Obfuscate
9. Onomatopoeia
10. Soliloquy
11. Colloquial
12. Ubiquitous
13. Courvoisier
14. Rhythm
15. Cnemidocoptes
 16. Surveillance
17. Clairvoyant
18. Questionnaire
19. Connoisseur
20. Embezzlement

Commonly Misspelled Words

The following are some commonly misspelled words in the English language.

1. Breathe
2. Restaurant
3. Chronological
4. Genuine
5. Unforeseen
6. Lacrosse
7. Acknowledgment
8. Foreign
9. Colleague
10. Persistent
11. Hypocrite
12. License
13. Consensus
14. Asylum
15. Committee

Hard Spelling Words in English

The following are some English words that are often misspelled.

1. Bureaucracy
2. Champagne
3. Fisticuffs
4. Harassment
5. Masseuse
6. Broccoli
7. Mastodon
8. Chivalry
9. Squadron
10. Maneuver