• 120 words
  • Checked October 2026

Spelling List of Commonly Misspelled Words

Commonly misspelled words spelling test: hear each word in a sentence, type it, then see the usual slip.

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The 10 words of this list. Add or change any. For your own list, press Clear first.

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List 1: school and study

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

  1. 1.beginnerThe beginner class meets on Mondays.
  2. 2.difficultyShe solved the puzzle without difficulty.
  3. 3.academyHe trained at a music academy.
  4. 4.accuracyCheck the accuracy of your measurements.
  5. 5.applicationHer job application was two pages long.
  6. 6.abilityHe has the ability to stay calm.
  7. 7.intelligentCrows are intelligent birds.
  8. 8.intellectualChess is an intellectual game.
  9. 9.philosopherThe philosopher asked what makes a life good.
  10. 10.grammaticallyThe sentence is grammatically correct.

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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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Next step The famous traps: spelling words for adultsRare and long: the hardest words to spell

All 120 words

List 1: school and study 10

  • ability Not "abilty". He has the ability to stay calm.
  • academy Not "accademy". He trained at a music academy.
  • accuracy Not "acuracy". Check the accuracy of your measurements.
  • application Not "aplication". Her job application was two pages long.
  • beginner Not "begginer". The beginner class meets on Mondays.
  • difficulty Not "dificulty". She solved the puzzle without difficulty.
  • grammatically Not "gramatically". The sentence is grammatically correct.
  • intellectual Not "intelectual". Chess is an intellectual game.
  • intelligent Not "inteligent". Crows are intelligent birds.
  • philosopher Not "philospher". The philosopher asked what makes a life good.

List 2: at work 10

  • achievement Not "acheivement". Finishing the race was a real achievement.
  • administrator Not "adminstrator". The administrator reset my password.
  • advertisement Not "advertisment". The advertisement ran for thirty seconds.
  • arrangement Not "arrangment". We made an arrangement to share rides.
  • commitment Not "committment". Joining the team is a big commitment.
  • engagement Not "engagment". I have a prior engagement on Friday.
  • marketing Not "marketting". He works in the marketing office.
  • process Not "proccess". Baking bread is a slow process.
  • professional Not "proffesional". She gave a professional presentation.
  • requirement Not "requirment". Two years of math is a requirement to graduate.

List 3: time and numbers 10

  • annual Not "anual". The annual picnic is in June.
  • during Not "durring". Nobody left their seat during the encore.
  • lifetime Not "liftime". The warranty lasts a lifetime.
  • million Not "milion". The city has a million residents.
  • nighttime Not "nightime". The desert is cold at nighttime.
  • nineteenth Not "ninteenth". Her birthday is on the nineteenth.
  • ninety Not "ninty". My grandmother turned ninety in March.
  • permanently Not "permenantly". The stain is permanently set in the cloth.
  • temporarily Not "temperarily". The road is temporarily closed.
  • upcoming Not "upcomming". Tickets for the upcoming play sold out.

List 4: people 10

  • civilian Not "civillian". He returned to civilian life in June.
  • contributor Not "contributer". She is a regular contributor to the paper.
  • goddess Not "godess". Athena was the Greek goddess of wisdom.
  • imitator Not "immitator". The parrot is a clever imitator.
  • messenger Not "messanger". A bike messenger delivered the package.
  • practitioner Not "practicioner". She is a practitioner of traditional weaving.
  • sorcerer Not "sorceror". The sorcerer in the story lost his wand.
  • sponsor Not "sponser". A local shop will sponsor the team.
  • successor Not "sucessor". The mayor's successor took office in May.
  • surveyor Not "surveyer". The surveyor measured the lot.

List 5: linking words 10

  • albeit Not "albiet". The plan was sound, albeit expensive.
  • although Not "altough". Although tired, she finished the race.
  • around Not "arround". The dog ran around the tree.
  • despite Not "dispite". The hike went ahead despite the fog.
  • everything Not "everthing". Everything on the menu looked good.
  • further Not "futher". We will talk further tomorrow.
  • nevertheless Not "neverthless". It was late; nevertheless, we kept walking.
  • several Not "sevral". I read several chapters last night.
  • throughout Not "througout". Posters hung throughout the building.
  • whereas Not "wheras". I like tea, whereas my brother likes cocoa.

List 6: describing words 10

  • appropriate Not "apropriate". Wear shoes appropriate for hiking.
  • approximate Not "aproximate". Give the approximate time of arrival.
  • exceptional Not "exeptional". The service was exceptional.
  • flammable Not "flamable". The label says the paint is flammable.
  • illogical Not "ilogical". Skipping the first step seemed illogical.
  • legitimate Not "legitamate". She had a legitimate reason for being late.
  • metallic Not "metalic". The car is painted a metallic gray.
  • outstanding Not "oustanding". He won an award for outstanding work.
  • unpleasant Not "unplesant". The medicine has an unpleasant taste.
  • unsuccessful Not "unsuccesful". The first attempt was unsuccessful.

List 7: words that end in ly 10

  • automatically Not "automaticly". The lamp switches on automatically at dusk.
  • indefinitely Not "indefinately". The meeting was postponed indefinitely.
  • literally Not "literaly". The tent literally blew away in the storm.
  • officially Not "officialy". Summer officially begins in June.
  • possibly Not "possably". This is possibly the longest line ever.
  • properly Not "propperly". Is the bandage fastened properly?
  • regularly Not "regularily". The bus runs regularly until midnight.
  • severely Not "severly". The storm severely damaged the pier.
  • typically Not "typicaly". Class typically ends at three.
  • virtually Not "virtualy". The two bikes are virtually the same.

List 8: doing words 10

  • accomplish Not "acomplish". The crew can accomplish the repair by noon.
  • challenge Not "challange". The climb was a real challenge.
  • concern Not "consern". Her main concern was the cost.
  • consider Not "concider". Please consider my offer.
  • excel Not "excell". She hopes to excel at chess.
  • implement Not "impliment". The town will implement the new parking rules.
  • interpret Not "interpet". How do you interpret this poem?
  • occur Not "occurr". Eclipses occur a few times a year.
  • resemble Not "ressemble". The twins resemble their mother.
  • strengthen Not "strenghten". Steel rods strengthen the concrete wall.

List 9: things and places 10

  • aerial Not "aeriel". The aerial photo shows the whole farm.
  • department Not "deparment". The fire department arrived quickly.
  • forehead Not "forhead". He wiped his forehead with a towel.
  • marmalade Not "marmelade". She spread orange marmalade on toast.
  • memento Not "momento". I kept the ticket as a memento.
  • poison Not "poisin". The bottle is marked poison.
  • pursuit Not "persuit". The dog ran off in pursuit of a squirrel.
  • testimony Not "testomony". The witness gave her testimony on Tuesday.
  • vicinity Not "vacinity". There are three parks in the vicinity.
  • warrant Not "warrent". The judge signed the warrant.

List 10: ideas 10

  • belief Not "beleif". Her belief in the plan never wavered.
  • connection Not "conection". The phone lost its connection.
  • criticism Not "critisism". She welcomed criticism of her draft.
  • excellence Not "excellance". The school is known for excellence in music.
  • interest Not "intrest". She has an interest in astronomy.
  • loneliness Not "lonelyness". A phone call eased his loneliness.
  • opinion Not "oppinion". In my opinion, the sequel is better.
  • quantity Not "quantaty". We ordered a large quantity of paper.
  • response Not "responce". I am waiting for a response.
  • variety Not "varity". The market sells a variety of apples.

List 11: more ideas 10

  • adherence Not "adherance". The referee insists on adherence to the rules.
  • aggression Not "agression". The dog showed no aggression.
  • association Not "assocation". The neighborhood association meets monthly.
  • efficiency Not "effeciency". The new bulbs improve efficiency.
  • essence Not "essense". Teamwork is the essence of rowing.
  • insistence Not "insistance". At my insistence, we checked the map again.
  • laziness Not "lazyness". The coach had no patience for laziness.
  • omission Not "omision". The omission of my name was a mistake.
  • optimism Not "optomism". His optimism cheered the whole team.
  • relevance Not "relevence". I questioned the relevance of the detail.

List 12: ten that everyone meets 10

  • beautiful Not "beatiful". It was a beautiful morning.
  • believe Not "beleive". I believe the answer is seven.
  • describe Not "discribe". Can you describe the lost dog?
  • different Not "diffrent". We took a different route home.
  • finally Not "finaly". The bus finally arrived.
  • friend Not "freind". A true friend tells you the truth.
  • really Not "realy". That was a really close finish.
  • stomach Not "stomache". Butterflies filled my stomach before the speech.
  • tongue Not "tounge". The lizard flicked its tongue.
  • usually Not "usualy". The mail usually comes before noon.

How it works

These 120 everyday words are each misspelled often enough to be on Wikipedia's list of common misspellings. They are sorted by where you write them, from school and work to linking words, and none repeats our adult or hardest word lists.

Read the full guide

Spelling: frequently misspelled words, by where you write them

Lists 1 to 4 are school and study (beginner, accuracy), work (commitment, advertisement), time and numbers (ninety, nineteenth) and people (messenger, surveyor). Lists 5 to 8 are linking words (throughout, nevertheless), describing words (appropriate, unpleasant), words that end in ly (indefinitely, severely) and doing words (occur, interpret). Lists 9 to 11 are things, places and ideas (memento, pursuit, relevance), and List 12 has ten that everyone meets, such as friend and believe.

The usual slip

After a test, a missed word shows its usual wrong form crossed out, such as ninty under ninety. In the full list at the foot of the page, each word's wrong form follows the word Not.

  • Ninety keeps the e of nine; ninth is the one that drops it.
  • Memento starts with mem, as in memory, not mom.

Questions and answers

Which are the spelling words most commonly misspelled?

No count ranks them here. Every word on this page is on Wikipedia's list of common misspellings with the wrong form shown; the best-known traps, such as separate and definitely, are on our spelling words for adults page.

Which words here get a double letter by mistake?

Among them beginner (begginer), marketing (marketting), commitment (committment), during (durring), upcoming (upcomming), around (arround), process (proccess), occur (occurr) and excel (excell). Each has one letter written double that should be single.

Is it ninety or ninty?

Ninety. Nine keeps its e before ty and before teen, so ninety and nineteenth are both on List 3 with the e in place.

Can I print a spelling practice sheet of commonly misspelled words?

Yes. Pick a list, choose Test sheet and press Print for ten numbered lines, or Word list for the ten words with their sentences.

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