We are pretty sure this has happened to you before: typing away at your keyboard (and you’re in the zone) but something dreaded pops up, i.e. the spell-check and it flags ‘definitely’ or ‘accommodate’ for that matter. You think you know better, but the English language is chock full of quirks and words that seem to have a hive-mind of their own.
We have thrown together a beginner-friendly (though most anyone will benefit from it – we assure you that!) guide to the 75 most commonly misspelled words (the actual list) plus some fun background information and tricks to not let those words trip you up.
Here Is The List Of 75 Words Which Have Been Misspelled
Before we present you with the much-anticipated 75-word list, we thought it’d be a great idea if we showed you why these words have the power to trip us up.
English spelling is full of hidden surprises, which even the best spellers get caught off-guard in several instances. Why does this happen so often? Below are some of the most probable reasons:
Inconsistent Rules
‘I before e except c’ – it’s the classic rule most people learn in school. Well, there are 26 exceptions to this, ones that blatantly ignore this fundamental rule.
Rules of English spelling have more exceptions than consistent applications, which makes them feel more like vague suggestions rather than strict principles.
Thus, rules (no!) – think of them more like rough guidelines.
Another example? Plurals. Most of the time, we add an -s to a word to make it plural, like cat → cats, book → books – but then you have weird cases like child → children and goose → geese. And we haven’t even gone into the rabbit hole that is:
- Cacti
- Octopuses/Octopi
The thing is, all of them are technically correct, so no wonder spelling gets a touch messy.
Silent Letters & Odd Patterns
Next up on the list are words that have extra letters that—get this—do absolutely nothing when spoken.
Need some examples? Here they are:
- Receipt – that sneaky ‘p’ does not make a sound! So why is it even there?
- Embarrass – double ‘r’ and ‘s’ throws even the most confident spellers for a loop.
Silent letters exist because English borrowed (or, you know, blatantly took) words from Latin, French, and even Old English (you know, the one with words like: swincan, willan, til). Those extra letters once upon a time had a purpose (even if they don’t anymore).
Then there are words with double letters, ones that don’t stick to a consistent pattern. Why is it that necessary has only one ‘c’ but two ‘s’s, whereas occasionally gets two of both? Foolproof spelling instincts, they are not!
Borrowed Vocabulary
No one dares say it, but it’s just a plain fact: English is a language thief. Over the years, it has absorbed words from several other sources, including (but not limited to):
- French
- Latin
- Greek
- Spanish
- Russian
- German
The result? A messy spelling system that makes learning difficult (but, you know, all the more challenging and engaging as well) even for native speakers.
The List
Time has come ‘round, folks! Here’s the list of the top 75 misspelled words in the English language that has made every learner scratch their heads (in all its glory):
accommodate
achieve
acknowledge
acquaintance
acquire
amateur
apparently
argument
calendar
Caribbean
cemetery
changeable
conscience
definitely
disappear
embarrass
environment
exceed
experience
February
fluorescent
foreign
frequently
government
guarantee
harass
height
independent
intelligence
jewelry
judgment
knowledge
leisure
liaison
library
license
maintenance
maneuver
medieval
millennium
minuscule
mischievous
misspell
necessary
occurrence
perseverance
possession
pronunciation
public
questionnaire
receipt
recommend
restaurant
rhythm
separate
successful
supersede
surprise
their
tomorrow
twelfth
until
vacuum
vehicle
vicious
weather
weird
written
you’re
your
bureaucracy
conscientious
business
occasionally
colleague
Simple Tricks And Hacks For Mastering Misspelled Words
What say we help you out so that learning and spelling don’t feel like a guessing game?
Chunk it Down
Yes, long words are intimidating, but when you break them into manageable parts, things get far easier to digest.
- Accommodate → ac-com-mo-date (see the difference?).
- Embarrass → em-bar-rass (think of a “bar” of stress to remind you it has two “r’s”).
- Misspell → mis-spell (it’s just ironic that it’s commonly misspelled, right?).
To take things up a notch, you could even separate words into syllables and visualize each part individually. The power of imagination takes you far!
Create Mnemonics
Now that we’re at the techniques section, why not take a page out of the medical field’s playbook? Most doctors use mnemonics to remember complex medical jargon.
Rather, let’s look at some fun examples instead:
- Separate → There’s a “rat” in separate (to remind you it’s not spelled “seperate”).
- Necessary → One collar, two sleeves (one “c,” two “s’s”).
- Stationary vs. Stationery → E for envelope (paper) and A for at rest (not moving).
- Embarrass → Think of a red-faced ‘r-r’ (double ‘r’) when you’re embarrassed.
Read, Read, Read
The easiest way to improve your spelling is to read regularly. It sounds cliché, but it’s true! The more words you see firsthand, the more your brain absorbs their correct spelling.
A Golden Piece of Advice: A word always tripping you up? Write it down every time you see it spelled correctly. Seeing it in context helps cement the correct spelling in your memory.
The next time you come across these words, don’t let them trip you up. Wishing you happy spelling days!
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