• 150 words

Spelling Words for Adults at Work, in College or Learning English

Adult spelling words in 15 lists: pick one, press Start test, and type each word as you hear it.

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List 1: More than one double letter

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

  1. 1.millenniumA millennium lasts one thousand years.
  2. 2.committeeThe committee meets on the first Monday.
  3. 3.possessionThe old watch is my favorite possession.
  4. 4.addressPlease print your address on the form.
  5. 5.aggressiveThe goose got aggressive near its nest.
  6. 6.successfulThe bake sale was very successful.
  7. 7.accidentallyI accidentally sent the email twice.
  8. 8.occasionallyWe occasionally eat breakfast for dinner.
  9. 9.misspellPeople often misspell the word misspell.
  10. 10.commissionShe earns a commission on every sale.

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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 Test your own words the same wayTry the 11th grade lists for rarer words

All 150 words

List 1: More than one double letter 10

  • accidentally Not "accidentaly". I accidentally sent the email twice.
  • address Not "adress". Please print your address on the form.
  • aggressive Not "agressive". The goose got aggressive near its nest.
  • commission Not "commision". She earns a commission on every sale.
  • committee Not "commitee". The committee meets on the first Monday.
  • millennium Not "millenium". A millennium lasts one thousand years.
  • misspell Not "mispell". People often misspell the word misspell.
  • occasionally Not "occassionally". We occasionally eat breakfast for dinner.
  • possession Not "posession". The old watch is my favorite possession.
  • successful Not "succesful". The bake sale was very successful.

List 2: A double that is not there 10

  • across Not "accross". The bakery is across the street.
  • already Not "allready". I have already paid the bill.
  • apartment Not "appartment". They rent a small apartment downtown.
  • disappear Not "dissapear". The stain should disappear in the wash.
  • harass Not "harrass". Crows will harass a hawk near their nest.
  • necessary Not "neccessary". A passport is necessary for the trip.
  • pastime Not "pasttime". Fishing is his favorite weekend pastime.
  • threshold Not "threshhold". He paused at the threshold of the room.
  • tomorrow Not "tommorow". The package should arrive tomorrow morning.
  • until Not "untill". The store stays open until nine.

List 3: A double that gets dropped 10

  • beginning Not "begining". Start again from the beginning of the page.
  • committed Not "commited". She is committed to finishing the course.
  • dissatisfied Not "disatisfied". Several customers were dissatisfied with the delay.
  • equipped Not "equiped". The kitchen is equipped with a new stove.
  • occurred Not "occured". The power cut occurred just after midnight.
  • omitted Not "omited". One name was omitted from the list.
  • referred Not "refered". My doctor referred me to a specialist.
  • transferred Not "transfered". I transferred the money to my savings.
  • unforgettable Not "unforgetable". The sunrise over the lake was unforgettable.
  • withhold Not "withold". Employers withhold tax from each paycheck.

List 4: ie or ei 10

  • caffeine Not "caffiene". Coffee and tea both contain caffeine.
  • foreign Not "foriegn". He collects foreign coins and stamps.
  • height Not "hieght". The fence is six feet in height.
  • hygiene Not "hygeine". Good hygiene starts with washing your hands.
  • leisure Not "liesure". Read the report at your leisure.
  • perceive Not "percieve". Dogs perceive sounds that people cannot hear.
  • receive Not "recieve". You should receive the refund within a week.
  • retrieve Not "retreive". The dog ran to retrieve the ball.
  • seize Not "sieze". Seize the chance while you have it.
  • weird Not "wierd". The engine is making a weird noise.

List 5: a, e or i in the middle 10

  • benefit Not "benifit". Health insurance is a benefit of the job.
  • calendar Not "calender". Mark the date on your calendar.
  • category Not "catagory". Which category does this expense belong in?
  • cemetery Not "cemetary". The old cemetery sits behind the church.
  • comparative Not "comparitive". Taller is the comparative form of tall.
  • definitely Not "definately". I will definitely be there by noon.
  • desperate Not "desparate". We were desperate for a cold drink.
  • grammar Not "grammer". Check your grammar before you hit send.
  • sacrifice Not "sacrafice". Saving money takes some sacrifice.
  • separate Not "seperate". Please send two separate invoices.

List 6: ant or ent, ance or ence 10

  • acceptance Not "acceptence". Her acceptance letter came in the mail.
  • apparent Not "apparant". The leak had no apparent cause.
  • attendance Not "attendence". Attendance at the meeting is required.
  • existence Not "existance". The club has been in existence for decades.
  • experience Not "experiance". The job requires two years of experience.
  • guidance Not "guidence". A mentor can offer career guidance.
  • independent Not "independant". Teenagers want to be more independent.
  • insurance Not "insurence". The insurance covers damage from a storm.
  • relevant Not "relevent". Only include details relevant to the job.
  • tendency Not "tendancy". He has a tendency to arrive early.

List 7: Adding ly 10

  • absolutely Not "absolutly". You are absolutely right about the date.
  • basically Not "basicly". The two phones are basically the same.
  • especially Not "especialy". Traffic is heavy, especially on Fridays.
  • extremely Not "extremly". The roads are extremely icy tonight.
  • incidentally Not "incidently". The topic came up incidentally at lunch.
  • necessarily Not "neccessarily". A higher price is not necessarily better.
  • particularly Not "particulary". I am not particularly hungry right now.
  • practically Not "practicly". The stadium was practically empty.
  • publicly The mayor publicly thanked the volunteers.
  • unfortunately Not "unfortunatly". The flight was unfortunately delayed by fog.

List 8: Letters we swallow when we speak 10

  • environment Not "enviroment". Recycling helps protect the environment.
  • February Not "Febuary". February is the shortest month of the year.
  • government Not "goverment". Each state has its own government.
  • library Not "libary". The library closes early on Sundays.
  • miniature Not "minature". She collects miniature glass animals.
  • parliament Not "parliment". The parliament voted on the new law.
  • probably Not "probaly". We will probably finish by Friday.
  • surprise Not "suprise". The party was a complete surprise.
  • temperature Not "temperture". The temperature dropped below freezing overnight.
  • twelfth Not "twelth". Their office is on the twelfth floor.

List 9: When the base word changes 10

  • argument Not "arguement". They settled the argument with a coin toss.
  • curiosity Not "curiousity". Out of curiosity, I read the label.
  • disastrous Not "disasterous". A late frost was disastrous for the crop.
  • explanation Not "explaination". There must be a simple explanation.
  • fiery Not "firey". The sunset turned a fiery orange.
  • forty Not "fourty". The meeting ran for forty minutes.
  • monstrous Not "monsterous". A monstrous wave crashed over the pier.
  • ninth Not "nineth". September is the ninth month.
  • pronunciation Not "pronounciation". A dictionary shows the pronunciation of a word.
  • truly Not "truely". I am truly sorry for the delay.

List 10: c, s or sc 10

  • absence Not "absense". Her absence from the meeting was noticed.
  • conscious Not "concious". The patient was conscious and talking.
  • consensus Not "concensus". The group reached a consensus by lunch.
  • descendant Not "decendant". He is a descendant of the town's founder.
  • disciplined Not "disiplined". She is disciplined about her morning run.
  • exercise Not "excercise". Daily exercise helps you sleep.
  • license Not "lisence". You need a license to drive a car.
  • nuisance Not "nusance". The barking next door is a nuisance.
  • precise Not "precice". Baking calls for precise measurements.
  • presence Not "presense". Your presence is requested at the dinner.

List 11: Work and email 10

  • acknowledge Not "acknowlege". Please acknowledge that you got this message.
  • acquire Not "aquire". The firm plans to acquire a rival.
  • business Not "buisness". Her business sells handmade soap.
  • colleague Not "collegue". A colleague covered my shift on Monday.
  • interrupt Not "interupt". Please do not interrupt the speaker.
  • knowledge Not "knowlege". The job needs a knowledge of spreadsheets.
  • management Not "managment". The new management changed the dress code.
  • opportunity Not "oportunity". The new role is a great opportunity.
  • personnel Not "personel". All personnel must wear a badge.
  • reference Not "referrence". My old manager agreed to be a reference.

List 12: College words 10

  • academic Not "acedemic". The academic year ends with final exams.
  • curriculum Not "curriculem". The curriculum includes two science courses.
  • engineering Not "engeneering". She earned a degree in civil engineering.
  • literature Not "literture". He teaches American literature to freshmen.
  • mathematics Not "mathamatics". Algebra is a branch of mathematics.
  • plagiarism Not "plagarism". The essay was checked for plagiarism.
  • professor Not "proffesor". The professor holds office hours on Tuesdays.
  • psychology Not "psycology". She is studying psychology at night school.
  • sophomore Not "sophmore". A sophomore is a second-year student.
  • tuition Not "tution". A scholarship paid half of his tuition.

List 13: Big everyday words 10

  • approximately Not "aproximately". The drive takes approximately two hours.
  • congratulations Not "congradulations". We sent a card to say congratulations.
  • enthusiastic Not "enthusiatic". The crowd gave an enthusiastic cheer.
  • extraordinary Not "extrordinary". The view from the summit was extraordinary.
  • intelligence Not "inteligence". Crows are known for their intelligence.
  • kindergarten Not "kindergarden". Their youngest starts kindergarten in the fall.
  • refrigerator Not "refridgerator". Put the milk back in the refrigerator.
  • responsibility Not "responsability". Feeding the dog is my responsibility.
  • superintendent Not "superintendant". Call the building superintendent about the leak.
  • unnecessary Not "unecessary". Skip any unnecessary steps.

List 14: Sound-alike pairs at work 10

  • cite Always cite the source of a quote.
  • complement The sauce is a perfect complement to fish.
  • compliment He paid her a kind compliment.
  • discreet Please be discreet about the birthday plans.
  • discrete The course has four discrete units.
  • faze The loud crowd did not faze her.
  • phase The project is in its final phase.
  • site Hard hats are required on the building site.
  • waive The bank agreed to waive the late fee.
  • wave A huge wave knocked over the sandcastle.

List 15: Sound-alike pairs inside common sayings 10

  • baited He baited the hook with a worm.
  • bated We waited with bated breath for the score.
  • peak We reached the peak before noon.
  • pique The odd title should pique your interest.
  • pore We pore over the map before each hike.
  • pour Pour the batter into the pan.
  • reign The king's reign lasted forty years.
  • rein The new manager gave the team free rein.
  • toe Every player must toe the line.
  • tow A truck came to tow the car.

How it works

These spelling words for adults are 150 everyday words in 15 lists of 10, sorted by the trap: a double letter, ie or ei, a swallowed syllable. Most show their usual wrong spelling, like definately, and 20 form sound-alike pairs.

Read the full guide

How these hard spelling words for adults are sorted

Lists 1 to 3 are double letters: more than one (millennium), one not there (harass), one that gets dropped (occurred). On List 4, six of ten words break the i before e rhyme: weird, seize, foreign, leisure, height, caffeine. Lists 5 to 10 cover middle vowels, ant or ent, ly, swallowed letters (February), changed base words and c, s or sc. Lists 11 to 13 are work, college and long words.

What the wrong spelling is for

Below the tool, 129 words carry a line such as Not "definately". In the results a missed word shows that misspelling crossed out. Each wrong form comes from Wikipedia's list of common misspellings or a Wiktionary entry marked as a misspelling, both shared under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

  • Definitely has finite inside it, separate has a rat, and cemetery has three e's and no a.
  • Basically, practically and incidentally end in ally. Publicly is the odd one out: public plus ly.
  • Calender with an e is a real word, a machine that presses paper smooth, so spellcheckers may pass it.

Questions and answers

Are these college level spelling words?

List 12 is: academic, curriculum, plagiarism, sophomore, tuition. The rest are everyday words, which also suits anyone learning English. All 150 are our own choice, so treat the set as our suggestion and edit any list.

Where are the big spelling words?

List 13 has the long ones: congratulations, extraordinary, superintendent, refrigerator. Kindergarten goes wrong at one letter, the t it keeps from German Garten, and unnecessary is un plus necessary with nothing dropped. For rarer words, try the 11th grade lists.

What are the sound-alike pairs on Lists 14 and 15?

Twenty words a spellchecker cannot catch: complement and compliment, discreet and discrete, rein and reign, bated and baited, and six more pairs. Each sentence fixes the meaning, as in free rein. Type the twin and the results name the mix-up.

Is it license or licence?

In the United States it is license, noun and verb alike, and List 10 reads You need a license to drive a car. Outside the United States the noun is licence, so open Edit this list and swap it in. Lisence is wrong everywhere.

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