1. Indight
   Indite
2. Indict
   Indyghte

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.

1. Deficient
   Deficeint
2. Difeceint
   Dificient

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."

1. Counterfeight
   Counterfight
2. Counterfeit
   Counterfit

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.

1. Viscous
   Vicious
2. Vichous
   Vishous

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.

1. Cematary
   Cemetery
2. Cemetary
   Cametary

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.

1. Damm
   Dam
2. Damn
   Dame

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.

1. Scentillating
   Scentellating
2. Scintillating
   Skantillating

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).

1. Privelidge
   Priviledge
2. Privilege
   Priveligde

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.

1. Absorbtion
   Absorbcion
2. Absorption
   Absorpcion

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.

1. Newmonic
   Numonic
2. Mnemonic
   Pneumonic

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.

1. Wholly
   Holey
2. Wholley
   Hwolly

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.

1. Wait
   Weight
2. Wieght
   Weigt

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.

1. Culdesack
   Kuldasac
2. 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.

1. Rhythm
   Rythm
2. Rhythym
   Rhthym

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.

1. Cameleon
   Chameleon
2. Cumeleon
   Camelion

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.

1. Weird
   Wired
2. Wierd
   Weiyrd

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.

1. Massacre
   Massicar
2. Masacre
   Massacar

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.

1. Feyned
   Fayned
2. 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.

1. Paralell
   Parallel
2. Parralel
   Parellel

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.

1. Feud
   Fuud
2. Fewd
   Fieud

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."

1. Feasable
   Feasible
2. Fesable
   Pheasible

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.

1. Masoose
   Meseusse
2. 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!

1. Camoflage
   Kamoflage
2. Camouflage
   Camooflaje

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.

1. Effect
   Affect
2. Efect
   Afect

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).

1. Sacrelgious
   Sacrilegious
2. Sacriligious
   Sackrelgious

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.

1. Gourmet
   Gormet
2. Gormee
   Gormeet

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.

1. Diarrhea
   Diarea
2. Dioreah
   Diorhea

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.

1. Dessert
   Desiert
2. Desert
   Deseret

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.

1. Biskit
   Biscuit
2. Biscut
   Biscit

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.

1. Accidently
   Axidently
2. Accidentally
   Acidentally

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.”

1. February
   Febuary
2. Febuery
   Febureary

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.

1. Uphoria
   Euforia
2. Euphoria
   Ewephoria

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.

1. Vakumme
   Vacuum
2. Vacume
   Vackume

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?

1. Dinamyte
   Dynamite
2. Dynomight
   Dynomite

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.

1. Eggstatic
   Ecstatic
2. Ekstatick
   Eccstatic

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.