Can You Spell These Tricky Words?

Is it possible to _____ a sitting president?

Indight

Indite

Indict

The word indict is one that you may be seeing mispelled a lot lately. It’s as often mispelled as it is misunderstood. As for the answer to the question, let’s leave that to the experts.

Indyghte

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I had to retake third grade English because my spelling was ________.

Deficient

It turns out the "I" before "E" except after "C" rule is deficient for the after "C" part as well. And, unlike the 75% correct rate that the “I" before "E” holds, the “after "C" part is less accurate. In fact, statistician Nathan Cunningham reports that it’s three times more likely to have the "I" before "E" after "C."

Deficeint

Difeceint

Dificient

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He paid with a $100 bill, but the cashier wouldn’t take it, since it was clearly _________.

Counterfeight

Counterfight

Counterfeit

There are many ways to detect a counterfeit $100 bill. You may be able to tell by the feel of the paper, the way borders look blurry, or ink that is not quite the right color. After 2009, $100 bills have a fresh new look, with many new security safeties built in.

Counterfit

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What do you call something intentionally cruel?

Viscous

Vicious

The word vicious refers to something that is brutal or intentionally cruel. Viscous, on the other hand, refers to a thick, sticky consistency. You wouldn’t want to mix these two up in a history paper describing an assault on civilians.

Vichous

Vishous

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Sometimes I go to the _______, just to remind myself that life is fleeting.

Cematary

Cemetery

If it weren’t for spellcheck, would you ever get this one right? It just seems like there should be an "a" in there somewhere, right? Oxford Dictionaries mentions that a good way to remember this is to think of it in opposition to graveyard, which has two "a"s.

Cemetary

Cametary

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We went out of our way to drive across the _____.

Damm

Dam

The word dam, meaning a constructed blockade to keep back water, is often confused with the expletive, damn. You can remember that the one the that is spelled as it sounds, is the one you would write. Damn, which makes no sense spelling wise, is not really for writing; it’s for saying.

Damn

Dame

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What could a shiny, sparkly object be described as?

Scentillating

Scentellating

Scintillating

This word scintillating is derived from the Latin for sparkly. It’s a strange word because it has extremely few related words in English (unlike many other words that originated from Latin).

Skantillating

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What is something you can have without knowing you have it?

Privelidge

Priviledge

Privilege

The essence of having privilege is having a right not granted to everyone. Because the advantages afforded by privilege are often unseen, especially to those who have them, privilege can be an elusive concept.

Priveligde

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What is the act of soaking something in called?

Absorbtion

Absorbcion

Absorption

The word absorption is tricky because it’s not spelled like the act of absorbing that it describes. Absorption can describe the process of absorbing or being absorbed, or it can signify the state of being absorbed in something.

Absorpcion

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What is a device for remembering?

Newmonic

Numonic

Mnemonic

A mnemonic is a device or system for remembering. Common mnemonics these days are catchy songs for remembering lists or acronyms that spell out a memorable word. It used to be more common, though, to use more complex mnemonics, such as imagining parts of a speech or story to be areas inside a house.

Pneumonic

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She was _______ unaware that her teeth were full of poppyseeds during her presentation.

Wholly

Many students are wholly unaware of how to spell wholly, but that’s OK because they would never use it in a sentence. If you do use it in sentences though, misspelling it causes some humorous gaffes.

Holey

Wholley

Hwolly

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It doesn’t make a difference how often you check your ______.

Wait

Weight

Yet another word that doesn’t work with the old elementary jingle. Weight places the "e" before the "i," after "w." Most of us probably get this word correct most of the time because it’s so common, our brains have it memorized by sight.

Wieght

Weigt

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We live at the end of the _______.

Culdesack

Kuldasac

Kul-de-sac

Cul-de-sac

The bizarre word cul-de-sac, which is most commonly used to describe a dead-end street that forms a half-circle, comes from the French. It literally means the bottom of a sack, which, if you look from a bird’s eye view, is pretty much what it looks like.

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If you have a good sense of beat, what do you have?

Rhythm

This is one of those pesky words that can kick you out of the spelling bee. Where does the "Y" go? The word comes from the Germanic word rhein, meaning to flow. It originally described rhymed verse.

Rythm

Rhythym

Rhthym

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He changed his personality like a _________.

Cameleon

Chameleon

The word chameleon has an "H" because it’s from the Greek khamei (on the ground) + leon (lion). Maybe Greek lions look different from American chameleons.

Cumeleon

Camelion

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She wasn’t popular in school because the kids said she was ____.

Weird

Weird is another of those weird words that does not follow the “I" before "E" except after "C” rule. While this rule seems to be just telling us lies, it is actually true 75% of the time.

Wired

Wierd

Weiyrd

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What is a word for a brutal slaughter?

Massacre

A massacre is a brutal slaughter that generally refers to people. The term applies to vastly different numbers of deaths. For instance, in the Hafia massacre in Palestine, 21 people were killed, while in the massacre at Jeju Island up to 60,000 people lost their lives.

Massicar

Masacre

Massacar

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She ______ illness in order to stay home from school.

Feyned

Fayned

Feighned

Feigned

The word feign derives from its Latin root fingere, meaning to mold or contrive. Feign still holds the meaning of contrive, or pretend, but that doesn’t explain why it’s spelled like this.

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What is the form of parking dreaded by driving novices?

Paralell

Parallel

The spelling for parallel makes sense when you look at where it comes from. It originates with the Greek combination para (beside) + allelois (each other). Para can also mean beyond, as in paranormal, which doesn’t mean not normal, but beyond normal.

Parralel

Parellel

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The family _____ had been going on for 20 years but no one could remember how it started.

Feud

The word feud means a fight or enduring hostility. It may come from a Germanic word for a foe. Some famous feuds include the hostility between Queen Elizabeth I of England and Mary Queen of Scots, as well as the Montagues and Capulets in "Romeo and Juliet."

Fuud

Fewd

Fieud

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It just isn’t _____ to buy everything in bulk.

Feasable

Feasible

Feasible means capable of being done, or doable. It comes from the French word for “to do,” faire. Faire conjugates to fais, which looks a lot like the word feasible. But it doesn’t explain the ea.

Fesable

Pheasible

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After a week of shoveling manure, I had to see my ______.

Masoose

Meseusse

Meusoose

Masseuse

Masseuse, as you may guess, is a French word. It comes from the word masser, meaning to massage. A masseuse only refers to a woman, while masseur refers to a man who rubs you down with oils. Don’t confuse them!

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What is a natural disguise?

Camoflage

Kamoflage

Camouflage

Camouflage occurs naturally among animals and insects. Butterflies have eyes on their backs and lions blend in with the dry grasses. The military began experimenting with camouflage in 1940.

Camooflaje

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Contrary to most people, caffeine has the ______ of making me sleepy.

Effect

The word effect has the effect of causing students everywhere to misspell it. It’s definitely hard to remember which is which, affect or effect. One rule of thumb is that effect is a noun, while affect is a verb (usually).

Affect

Efect

Afect

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What is a term for something that goes against religion?

Sacrelgious

Sacrilegious

The word sacrilegious is not spelled the same way as “religion,” as one might think it would be, since the common meaning of the word is going against religious practices. The word comes from the Latin roots sac (holy and legere) to take possession of holy things or stealing holy things.

Sacriligious

Sackrelgious

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What is a fancy meal?

Gourmet

A nice meal is often referred to as gourmet. The word comes from the French, gourmand, which refers to a person who is a specialist in the art of eating and drinking. A gourmand was originally a wine taster.

Gormet

Gormee

Gormeet

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What is a common bane of world travelers?

Diarrhea

Diarrhea is not something you want to have or spell in public. If only a spell checker would just fix it before you even noticed. The word originates from the Greek dia (through) and rhein (flow.) Finding the origin of the problem is a different issue.

Diarea

Dioreah

Diorhea

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Where is there an abundance of cacti and a lack of water?

Dessert

Desiert

Desert

If you write in your report that you went to the Gobi Dessert, your teacher will really wonder about your taste. Deserts don’t have to be covered in sand, contrary to common perception. They are defined by the low amounts of annual rainfall, rather than the ground cover.

Deseret

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What do you call a cookie in England?

Biskit

Biscuit

If you ask for a biscuit in England, you’re likely to get a cookie. The strange spelling comes from the French origin of the word. The cui combination is common in French, though uncommon in English.

Biscut

Biscit

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She _____ packed her tights instead of her shirt and spent the day wearing pants on her arms.

Accidently

Axidently

Accidentally

Accidentally is not a word you get right by accident. You have to remember this one. You have to write it 100 times on the chalkboard to make it sink down to your fingers gripping the chalk. No one says “ax-i-dent-a-ly.”

Acidentally

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______ may seem like it should be spring, but it’s still the dead of winter.

February

Perhaps February is the cruelest month. Winter has been going strong for months and it’s not slowing down. Also, why the "r"? Well, it comes from a Roman festival, Februa, where people were purified through washing.

Febuary

Febuery

Febureary

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What’s the feeling you get when school is out for summer?

Uphoria

Euforia

Euphoria

The beginning of summer can bring on euphoria. Similarly, jumping into cold, clear spring water on a hot day can bring about this intense feeling of well being. Eu comes from the Greek for good or well and phoria is from pherein, to bear.

Ewephoria

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What is a quick way to clean the floors?

Vakumme

Vacuum

The vacuum was hailed as a time-saving lifesaver for housewives. The word vacuum comes from the Latin vacuus, empty. How many housewives looked to the vacuum for salvation, only to realize they were living in a vacuum?

Vacume

Vackume

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What is Alfred Nobel famous for inventing?

Dinamyte

Dynamite

The trade name Dynamite comes from the Greek word from which “dynamic” and “dynamism” are derived. It means “power.” Alfred Nobel made his explosive discovery in 1867.

Dynomight

Dynomite

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What’s the name for that feeling when you are out of you’re mind with happiness?

Eggstatic

Ecstatic

Though the word ecstatic now usually means being taken over with intense positive emotions, it used to refer to a range of emotions. That’s because the word originally came from the Greek eckstatikos, meaning “unstable,” according to the Online Etymology Dictionary. The experience of ecstasy was historically related to a mystical experience that was out of your control.

Ekstatick

Eccstatic

FINISH QUIZ

Can You Spell These Tricky Words?

About This Quiz

About This Quiz