• 180 words
  • Checked October 2026

High School Spelling Bee Words

High school spelling bee practice words in three rounds of sixty, read aloud word, sentence, word.

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Round 1, List 1: adjectives

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

  1. 1.ambivalentShe felt ambivalent about moving away.
  2. 2.ephemeralThe frost patterns were ephemeral.
  3. 3.fastidiousThe fastidious editor caught every comma.
  4. 4.garrulousOur garrulous guide never stopped talking.
  5. 5.indefatigableThe indefatigable volunteer worked past midnight.
  6. 6.inscrutableThe cat gave me an inscrutable stare.
  7. 7.magnanimousThe magnanimous winner praised her rival.
  8. 8.recalcitrantThe recalcitrant mule ignored every command.
  9. 9.sanctimoniousHis sanctimonious lecture annoyed the team.
  10. 10.vociferousThe plan met vociferous opposition.

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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 180 words

Round 1, List 1: adjectives 10

  • ambivalent She felt ambivalent about moving away.
  • ephemeral The frost patterns were ephemeral.
  • fastidious The fastidious editor caught every comma.
  • garrulous Our garrulous guide never stopped talking.
  • indefatigable The indefatigable volunteer worked past midnight.
  • inscrutable The cat gave me an inscrutable stare.
  • magnanimous The magnanimous winner praised her rival.
  • recalcitrant The recalcitrant mule ignored every command.
  • sanctimonious His sanctimonious lecture annoyed the team.
  • vociferous The plan met vociferous opposition.

Round 1, List 2: nouns 10

  • aberration The cold day in July was an aberration.
  • charlatan The charlatan sold bottles of colored water.
  • conundrum The scheduling conundrum took a week to solve.
  • discrepancy We found a discrepancy between the two totals.
  • equanimity She accepted the loss with equanimity.
  • hegemony The empire's hegemony lasted two centuries.
  • nomenclature Chemists follow a strict nomenclature for compounds.
  • panacea More homework is no panacea for low scores.
  • quintessence The cabin was the quintessence of comfort.
  • repercussion The delay had one serious repercussion.

Round 1, List 3: verbs 10

  • ameliorate New buses will ameliorate the crowding.
  • disseminate Newspapers disseminate information quickly.
  • exacerbate Shouting will only exacerbate the argument.
  • exonerate The video helped exonerate the driver.
  • extrapolate We can extrapolate next year's total from this chart.
  • obfuscate Long words can obfuscate a simple point.
  • proliferate Weeds proliferate in an untended garden.
  • reiterate Let me reiterate the due date.
  • relinquish The champion had to relinquish the trophy.
  • repudiate The author chose to repudiate the rumor.

Round 1, List 4: sc that says s 10

  • ascertain Police tried to ascertain the cause.
  • coalesce Small groups began to coalesce into one.
  • discern I could barely discern the path in the fog.
  • evanescent An evanescent rainbow hung over the falls.
  • luminescent The watch has a luminescent dial.
  • obsolescence Old phones are headed for obsolescence.
  • phosphorescent Phosphorescent paint glows after the lights go out.
  • quiescent The volcano has been quiescent for decades.
  • reminiscent The melody is reminiscent of a lullaby.
  • transcendent The choir's final chord felt transcendent.

Round 1, List 5: which letter doubles 10

  • aggrandize He told stories to aggrandize himself.
  • assuage A phone call helped assuage her worry.
  • belligerence His belligerence earned a penalty.
  • commensurate The pay is commensurate with experience.
  • commiserate We met to commiserate after the loss.
  • dissertation She defended her dissertation in May.
  • dissipate The fog will dissipate by noon.
  • ebullient The ebullient crowd sang in the streets.
  • emissary The king sent an emissary to the border.
  • irrevocable Once mailed, the ballot is irrevocable.

Round 1, List 6: ant or ent 10

  • clairvoyant You need not be clairvoyant to see it coming.
  • exorbitant The stadium charges exorbitant prices for water.
  • irreverent The irreverent cartoon mocked the mayor.
  • malevolent The story's villain wore a malevolent grin.
  • omnipotent No coach is omnipotent on game day.
  • penitent He looked penitent after the outburst.
  • petulant The petulant player kicked the bench.
  • recurrent Flooding is a recurrent problem on this street.
  • repentant The repentant driver paid for the fence.
  • vigilant Lifeguards stay vigilant all afternoon.

Round 2, List 7: government and law 10

  • adjudicate A panel will adjudicate the dispute.
  • appropriation The bill includes an appropriation for roads.
  • arbitration The contract dispute went to arbitration.
  • cloture The senators voted for cloture to end debate.
  • extradition The court approved the extradition request.
  • filibuster The senator's filibuster lasted nine hours.
  • litigation The dispute ended after years of litigation.
  • precedent The ruling set a precedent for later cases.
  • ratification The treaty awaits ratification.
  • tribunal The tribunal heard testimony for a week.

Round 2, List 8: psychology and sociology 10

  • behaviorism Behaviorism studies actions that can be observed.
  • cognition Sleep affects memory and cognition.
  • consciousness He regained consciousness in a few seconds.
  • introvert An introvert may prefer a quiet evening.
  • neuroscience Neuroscience is the study of the nervous system.
  • perception Lighting changes our perception of color.
  • psychoanalysis The lecture traced the history of psychoanalysis.
  • reinforcement Praise is a form of positive reinforcement.
  • stereotype The film avoids every tired stereotype.
  • subconscious The habit had become subconscious.

Round 2, List 9: physics 10

  • centrifugal A centrifugal pump moves the water outward.
  • diffraction Diffraction spreads light into colored bands.
  • kinematics Kinematics describes motion without asking its cause.
  • oscillation We timed each oscillation of the spring.
  • pendulum The pendulum swung once every two seconds.
  • photon Each photon carries a tiny packet of energy.
  • quantum Quantum theory describes very small particles.
  • resonance Resonance made the bridge sway.
  • thermodynamics Thermodynamics deals with heat and energy.
  • vector Draw the vector as an arrow.

Round 2, List 10: calculus and statistics 10

  • calculus She will take calculus as a senior.
  • derivative The derivative gives the slope of the curve.
  • deviation The standard deviation measures the spread.
  • differential We solved a differential equation in class.
  • ellipse She drew an ellipse with two pins and string.
  • histogram The histogram shows scores in groups of ten.
  • integral The integral gives the area under the curve.
  • permutation Each permutation lists the letters in a new order.
  • regression A regression line fits the scattered points.
  • variance The variance is the square of the standard deviation.

Round 2, List 11: chemistry 10

  • covalent The quiz asked us to define a covalent bond.
  • crystalline The rock had a crystalline sparkle.
  • distillation Distillation separates liquids by boiling point.
  • enthalpy The lab report asks for the change in enthalpy.
  • hydrocarbon A hydrocarbon contains only hydrogen and carbon.
  • isomer Each isomer has the same chemical formula.
  • reagent Add the reagent one drop at a time.
  • solubility We graphed the solubility of salt in water.
  • spectroscopy Spectroscopy identifies elements by their light.
  • stoichiometric We mixed the gases in a stoichiometric ratio.

Round 2, List 12: literature 10

  • bildungsroman A bildungsroman follows a character growing up.
  • consonance Consonance repeats consonant sounds.
  • existentialism The seminar spent a month on existentialism.
  • hamartia The hero's hamartia leads to his fall.
  • iambic An iambic foot has two syllables.
  • naturalism The course moves from realism to naturalism.
  • pentameter The sonnet is written in pentameter.
  • romanticism Romanticism prized emotion and nature.
  • transcendentalism Our unit on transcendentalism began with an essay.
  • vernacular The novel is written in the local vernacular.

Round 3, List 13: long words from Greek 10

  • anachronistic A wristwatch in the film was anachronistic.
  • anthropomorphic The cartoon has anthropomorphic teapots.
  • cacophonous The cacophonous traffic drowned out the band.
  • euphonious The poet chose a euphonious name for the town.
  • idiosyncratic The author has an idiosyncratic style.
  • kaleidoscopic The market was a kaleidoscopic blur of color.
  • philanthropist The philanthropist funded forty scholarships.
  • pseudonymous The pseudonymous author never gave interviews.
  • psychosomatic The article explained the word psychosomatic.
  • xenophobia The speaker warned the crowd against xenophobia.

Round 3, List 14: keep the e 10

  • canoeing The camp offers canoeing every morning.
  • chargeable The repair is chargeable to the tenant.
  • exchangeable The tickets are exchangeable until Friday.
  • interchangeable The two parts are interchangeable.
  • peaceable The crowd stayed peaceable all evening.
  • replaceable The filter is cheap and replaceable.
  • salvageable Only the engine was salvageable.
  • singeing The candle was singeing the edge of the card.
  • traceable The package is traceable by its number.
  • unmanageable The pile of mail had become unmanageable.

Round 3, List 15: efy or ify 10

  • codify The committee voted to codify the rules.
  • exemplify These poems exemplify her early style.
  • indemnify The policy will indemnify the owner for losses.
  • mollify An apology did little to mollify him.
  • personify Poets often personify the wind.
  • putrefy Fallen fruit will putrefy in the sun.
  • rectify The bank promised to rectify the error.
  • stratify Sediments stratify over thousands of years.
  • stultify Endless drills can stultify a class.
  • stupefy The magician's tricks stupefy the crowd.

Round 3, List 16: Latin words that end in um 10

  • arboretum The arboretum labels every tree.
  • colloquium The department hosts a colloquium each spring.
  • compendium The book is a compendium of sailing knots.
  • consortium A consortium of colleges shares the telescope.
  • continuum Colors form a continuum from red to violet.
  • decorum The judge demanded decorum in the courtroom.
  • emporium The old emporium sold everything from nails to hats.
  • interregnum The interregnum lasted until a new king was crowned.
  • opprobrium The decision drew public opprobrium.
  • symposium She spoke at a symposium on ocean science.

Round 3, List 17: six syllables or more 10

  • authoritarianism The essay compares democracy with authoritarianism.
  • autobiographical Her first novel is partly autobiographical.
  • characterization The play is praised for its characterization.
  • disproportionately The cuts fell disproportionately on small towns.
  • environmentalist An environmentalist spoke at the hearing.
  • infinitesimal The chance of a tie is infinitesimal.
  • institutionalize The school plans to institutionalize the tutoring program.
  • irreconcilable The two accounts were irreconcilable.
  • oversimplification Calling it luck is an oversimplification.
  • parliamentarian The parliamentarian ruled the motion out of order.

Round 3, List 18: the last ten 10

  • antediluvian The office still uses an antediluvian copier.
  • apocryphal The tale of the buried gold is apocryphal.
  • eleemosynary The fund serves an eleemosynary purpose.
  • ignominious The season ended in ignominious defeat.
  • insouciant Her insouciant wave hid her nerves.
  • maelstrom The boat was caught in a maelstrom.
  • mellifluous The announcer has a mellifluous voice.
  • pulchritude The poem praises the pulchritude of the valley.
  • sesquipedalian The professor loves sesquipedalian words.
  • tintinnabulation We woke to the tintinnabulation of bells.

How it works

These 180 words are for grades 11 and 12, as our suggestion. Round 1 has adjectives, nouns and verbs, Round 2 words from upper-level classes, and Round 3 ends on sesquipedalian and tintinnabulation. None is on our 10th grade bee.

Read the full guide

A high school spelling bee word list in three rounds

Round 1 sorts by kind and by trap: adjectives (garrulous, recalcitrant), sc that says s (coalesce, quiescent), which letter doubles (commiserate, assuage). Round 2 comes from class: government and law (filibuster, cloture), psychology, physics (kinematics), calculus, chemistry (enthalpy) and literature (bildungsroman). Round 3 has long words from Greek, words that keep an e (traceable, canoeing), efy or ify, Latin words in um (opprobrium), six syllables or more, and a last ten.

For a bee spoken aloud

Print a list as a Word list: the reader gets ten words, each with a sentence. On a screen, Start round reads each word and the speller types; the results offer the missed words again.

  • Stupefy and putrefy end in efy; most verbs of the kind, like codify and rectify, take ify.
  • Singeing keeps its e so it is not read as singing.

Questions and answers

Which are the hard spelling bee words for 12th graders?

Round 3, Lists 17 and 18: oversimplification runs to seven syllables, and eleemosynary, sesquipedalian and tintinnabulation are rare at any age. The grade is our suggestion.

Which lists suit spelling bee words for 11th grade?

Rounds 1 and 2. Their words turn up in junior-year reading and classes: ephemeral, discrepancy, precedent, perception, derivative. Round 3 is harder and suits seniors or a final.

What are difficult spelling bee words for high school?

Words whose sound hides a letter. Here that is the sc of evanescent, the double s of dissipate and assuage, the e kept in salvageable and the um of interregnum.

Why are liquefy, hubris and knowledgeable missing?

The American Heritage Dictionary gives each a second spelling (liquify, hybris, knowledgable), and the test marks only one. Complacent is out because it sounds like complaisant.

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