• 120 words

10th Grade Spelling Words

Spelling words for 10th grade, mostly sorted by ending: pick a list, press Start test, then type what you hear.

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List 1: Ending in ence

Words to learn. Read each word, cover it, write it, then check it.

  1. 1.reminiscenceThe song stirred a reminiscence of summer camp.
  2. 2.diligenceHer diligence showed in every page of notes.
  3. 3.magnificenceVisitors stared at the magnificence of the canyon.
  4. 4.eloquenceThe speaker's eloquence moved the whole crowd.
  5. 5.equivalenceThe proof shows the equivalence of the fractions.
  6. 6.negligenceThe jury found negligence by the builder.
  7. 7.subsistenceThe family lived by subsistence farming.
  8. 8.prevalenceDoctors track the prevalence of the flu.
  9. 9.turbulenceThe pilot warned us about turbulence ahead.
  10. 10.benevolenceThe town thanked the donor for her benevolence.

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Each word is read aloud, then used in a sentence. Type what you hear. The marks come at the end.

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Accents do not count: café may be typed as cafe, and the marks show how it is written.

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All 120 words

List 1: Ending in ence 10

  • benevolence The town thanked the donor for her benevolence.
  • diligence Her diligence showed in every page of notes.
  • eloquence The speaker's eloquence moved the whole crowd.
  • equivalence The proof shows the equivalence of the fractions.
  • magnificence Visitors stared at the magnificence of the canyon.
  • negligence The jury found negligence by the builder.
  • prevalence Doctors track the prevalence of the flu.
  • reminiscence The song stirred a reminiscence of summer camp.
  • subsistence The family lived by subsistence farming.
  • turbulence The pilot warned us about turbulence ahead.

List 2: Ending in ance 10

  • countenance Her calm countenance hid her nerves.
  • dissonance The chord ended in harsh dissonance.
  • extravagance A second dessert felt like an extravagance.
  • exuberance The puppy greeted us with exuberance.
  • grievance Workers filed a grievance about the schedule.
  • ordinance A city ordinance bans loud music at night.
  • reluctance He agreed with some reluctance.
  • sustenance Hikers carried nuts and fruit for sustenance.
  • vengeance The villain swore vengeance on the hero.
  • vigilance Lifeguards keep up their vigilance all day.

List 3: Ending in ible 10

  • collapsible We packed a collapsible chair for the beach.
  • gullible He is too gullible to spot a prank.
  • incorrigible The incorrigible puppy chewed another shoe.
  • indelible The trip left an indelible memory.
  • invincible The team looked invincible all season.
  • permissible Notes are permissible during the quiz.
  • plausible Her excuse sounded plausible at first.
  • reprehensible Cheating on the final was reprehensible.
  • susceptible Young trees are susceptible to frost.
  • tangible The team wanted tangible proof of progress.

List 4: Keep or drop the e before able 10

  • believable The actor made the villain believable.
  • changeable Mountain weather is changeable in spring.
  • conceivable We tried every conceivable fix.
  • desirable A quiet street makes the house desirable.
  • enforceable A signed contract is enforceable in court.
  • excusable One late arrival is excusable.
  • irreplaceable The family photos are irreplaceable.
  • measurable There was a measurable drop in noise.
  • pronounceable The brand wanted a short, pronounceable name.
  • serviceable The old bike is still serviceable.

List 5: Ending in cy or sy 10

  • advocacy Her advocacy led to a new crosswalk.
  • bankruptcy The store filed for bankruptcy last year.
  • courtesy Hold the door as a courtesy.
  • diplomacy The dispute was settled through diplomacy.
  • ecstasy The fans were in ecstasy after the win.
  • embassy The embassy issued her a new passport.
  • heresy In this town, disliking football is heresy.
  • hypocrisy Critics accused the senator of hypocrisy.
  • idiosyncrasy Humming while he works is his idiosyncrasy.
  • jealousy Jealousy drives the plot of the play.

List 6: Words from English class 10

  • allegory The fable is an allegory about greed.
  • anachronism A wristwatch in a medieval film is an anachronism.
  • colloquial The colloquial tone of the essay felt friendly.
  • epiphany The detective had an epiphany about the case.
  • juxtaposition The juxtaposition of old and new is striking.
  • omniscient An omniscient narrator knows every character's thoughts.
  • onomatopoeia The word sizzle is an example of onomatopoeia.
  • oxymoron Deafening silence is an oxymoron.
  • playwright The playwright revised the final scene.
  • satire The cartoon is a satire of city politics.

List 7: A final e that is sounded 10

  • acme The award marked the acme of her career.
  • adobe The house was built of adobe bricks.
  • anemone A clownfish hid inside the sea anemone.
  • epitome She is the epitome of calm under pressure.
  • facsimile The shop sells a facsimile of the old map.
  • finale Fireworks lit the sky for the grand finale.
  • karaoke We sang karaoke at the class party.
  • karate She earned a black belt in karate.
  • psyche The novel explores the human psyche.
  • sesame The bagel was covered in sesame seeds.

List 8: Words from civics class 10

  • bicameral A bicameral legislature has two chambers.
  • gerrymander Critics called the new district map a gerrymander.
  • impeachment The constitution sets the rules for impeachment.
  • judiciary The judiciary interprets the laws.
  • jurisdiction The case falls outside the court's jurisdiction.
  • referendum Voters decided the question in a referendum.
  • secession The debate over secession divided the country.
  • sovereignty The treaty recognized the nation's sovereignty.
  • suffrage Women won suffrage after decades of protest.
  • unanimous The jury reached a unanimous verdict.

List 9: Words from science class 10

  • centrifuge The lab spun the samples in a centrifuge.
  • electrolyte Sodium is an electrolyte in the body.
  • enzyme An enzyme in saliva breaks down starch.
  • fluorine Fluorine is the lightest of the halogens.
  • homeostasis Sweating helps the body maintain homeostasis.
  • isotope An isotope has a different number of neutrons.
  • nucleotide A nucleotide is a building block of DNA.
  • pharmaceutical The pharmaceutical company tested a new medicine.
  • symbiosis Clownfish and sea anemones live in symbiosis.
  • viscosity Honey has a higher viscosity than water.

List 10: Ending in ary or ery 10

  • artillery The fort's artillery faced the harbor.
  • contemporary The gallery shows contemporary art.
  • hereditary Eye color is a hereditary trait.
  • itinerary Our itinerary includes three cities in a week.
  • mercenary The king hired a mercenary army.
  • monastery Monks have lived in the monastery for centuries.
  • periphery Guards stood along the periphery of the field.
  • preliminary She won her preliminary heat.
  • subsidiary The airline is a subsidiary of a larger company.
  • upholstery The cat scratched the upholstery on the couch.

List 11: Ending in ory 10

  • compulsory Attendance at the drill is compulsory.
  • conservatory She studies violin at a music conservatory.
  • derogatory The coach banned derogatory comments.
  • mandatory Helmets are mandatory on the trail.
  • obligatory We took the obligatory group photo.
  • perfunctory He gave the floor a perfunctory sweep.
  • promontory A lighthouse stands on the rocky promontory.
  • repository The library is a repository of local history.
  • respiratory The lungs are part of the respiratory system.
  • trajectory We traced the trajectory of the rocket.

List 12: us for the noun, ous for the adjective 10

  • apparatus The lab apparatus was set up before class.
  • grievous The general made a grievous mistake.
  • hiatus The band returned after a long hiatus.
  • impetus The win gave the team fresh impetus.
  • ludicrous The rumor was too ludicrous to believe.
  • mucous A mucous membrane lines the nose.
  • mucus Mucus traps dust in the nose.
  • ominous Ominous clouds gathered over the field.
  • sarcophagus The museum displayed a stone sarcophagus.
  • thesaurus A thesaurus lists words with similar meanings.

How it works

Nine of these 12 lists of 10th grade spelling words turn on an ending the ear cannot settle: ance or ence, ible or able, cy or sy, ary, ery or ory. The other three hold English, civics and science words.

Read the full guide

What is on each of the 12 lists

Lists 1 and 2 are ence and ance, List 3 ible. List 4 is able after final e: five words keep it, all after ce or ge (changeable), and five drop it (desirable). List 5 is cy or sy, List 7 a sounded final e. Lists 10 and 11 are ary, ery and ory, and List 12 sets us nouns beside ous adjectives. Lists 6, 8 and 9 are the class lists. The grade is our suggestion: change words under Edit this list.

Why idiosyncrasy ends in sy and sovereignty has a g

Democracy ends in cracy, from Greek kratos, power. Idiosyncrasy ends in crasy, from Greek krasis, a mixing, so idiosyncracy is wrong. Sovereignty came from Old French soverain. The g crept in because people linked it with reign.

  • Playwright ends in wright, an old word for a maker, as in shipwright. It is not built on write.
  • Grievous has two syllables and one i. The misspelling grievious follows a three-syllable pronunciation. Think grief plus ous.
  • List 7 sounds its final e because every word is borrowed: epitome (Greek), finale (Italian), adobe (Spanish), karaoke, karate (Japanese).

Questions and answers

Does a list of ence words give the ending away?

Yes, and the review test fixes that. Open Review test from several lists, leave Lists 1 and 2 ticked and press Start review test: it draws 10 words from both, so every ance or ence has to be chosen. It needs a read-aloud voice.

Is there a rule for ible or able?

Only a leaning. English builds new words with able, while most ible words were borrowed whole from Latin or French. So on List 3 taking ible off leaves the base word only twice, in collapsible and gullible. On List 4 every word has one.

Why are mucus and mucous both on List 12?

They sound alike and do different jobs: mucus is the noun, mucous the adjective, as in mucous membrane. No voice can separate them, so the sentence decides. Type the word it needs and press Enter, or tap Next word. The twin is marked wrong.

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