Everyday Words that are Commonly Misspelled

If you do find yourself over-relying on spell checkers or misspelling the same word for the 17th time this year, it would obviously be to your advantage to improve your spelling. One shortcut to doing this is to consult the following list of words that are frequently used and misspelled. Many smart writers even put a mark next to a word whenever they have to look it up, thereby helping themselves identify those fiendish words that give them the most trouble. To improve your spelling, you must commit the words you frequently misspell to memory, and physically looking them up until you do so is an effective path to spelling perfection.

A

abandon
abandoned
abundant
absence
academic
academically
accelerator
accept
acceptable
accessible
accidentally
accommodate
accompanied
accompanying
accomplish
accumulate
accuracy
accustomed
achievement
acknowledge
acknowledgment
acquaintance
acquire
acquit
acre
acreage
across
actually
address
admission
admittance
adolescent
adolescence
advantageous
advertisement
aerial
against
aggravate
aggressive
aisle
a lot (never alot)
allotting
almost
already
always
amateur
among
amount
analysis
analyze
ancestry
announcement
annual
apparatus
apparent
apparently
appearance
appreciate
appropriate
appropriately
approximate
approximately
arctic
arguing
argument
article
artistically
association
athlete
athletic
attendance
attitude
awful
awkward

B

balance
bankruptcy
bargain
basically
battalion
beautiful
becoming
before
beginning
believe
beneficial
benefited
biased
biggest
boundary
Britain
bulletin
bureaucratic
business

C

calendar
camouflage
candidate
career
careful
category
ceiling
challenge
channel
chaos
character
characteristics
chief
chiefly
choose
chose
chosen
clothes
clothing
coarse
column
coming
commercial
commission
commitment
committee
communism
communists
compel
compelled
competition
completely
concede
conceivable
condemn
condemned
conferred
confused
connoisseur
conscience
conscientious
conscious
consists
continuous
controlled
controlling
controversial
convenient
coolly
criticism
crowded
cruelty
curiosity
curriculum

D

dealt
deceive
decision
deferred
definite
definitely
definition
descend
description
desirable
desperate
develop
different
dilemma
disagree
disappear
disappoint
disapprove
disaster
disastrous
discern
discipline
discussion
dispel
disservice
dissipate
distinct
duly
during

E

echoes
efficiency
efficient
eighth
eliminate
ellipse
embarrass
eminent
empty
endeavor
enemy
enthusiastically
entirely
entrance
environment
equipment
equipped
especially
essential
except
excellent
excess
existence
experience
explanation
extremely

F

fallacy
familiar
family
fascinate
fascism
favorite
February
fiery
finally
financial
financially
fission
fluorine
foreign
foresee
foreseeable
forfeit
forty
forward
fourth
frantically
friend
fulfill

G

generally
genius
government
grammar
grammatically
grandeur
Great Britain
grievance
guarantee
guerrilla
guidance

H

handicapped
happily
harass
heard
height
here
hindrance
hoping
hopeless
humorous
hundred
hurriedly
hygiene
hypocrisy
hypocrite

I

ideally
ignorant
illogical
imagine
imitate
immediately
immense
impossible
incidentally
independent
individually
ingenious
initially
initiative
innocent
innocuous
inoculate
intellectual
intelligence
intelligent
insistent
interest
interfered
interference
interrupt
iridescent
irrelevant
irreplaceable

J

jewelry
judgment
judicial

K

knowledge
knowledgeable

L

laboratory
later
lenient
liable
liaison
library
lightning
likely
listening
literature
loneliness
loose
lose
lying

M

magazine
maintenance
manageable
maneuver
manner
manual
marriage
mathematics
meant
medicine
medieval
mileage
millennium
miniature
miscellaneous
mischievous
missile
misspelled
mortgage
muscle

N

narrative
naturally
necessary
necessity
nineteen
ninety
ninth
noticeable
noticing
nuclear
nuisance
numerous

O

occasion
occasionally
occur
occurred
occurring
occurrence
official
omission
omit
omitted
oneself
operate
opinion
opponent
opportunity
opposite
oppression
ordinarily
originally

P

pamphlet
paraffin
parallel
parliament
particular
particularly
pastime
peaceable
peculiar
perceive
permissible
perseverance
persistence
pollute
pollution
population
possess
possession
possible
possibly
practically
preference
preferred
prejudice
prejudiced
primitive
privilege
probably
proceed
procedure
profession
professor
publicly
purpose

Q

quantify
quantity
quiet
quite

R

realize
rebellion
recede
receive
recession
recommend
reference
referring
remembrance
reservoir
rhythm
ridiculous

S

saccharine
sacrifice
safety
satellite
schedule
scientists
scintillate
separate
sergeant
shepherd
shining
shrubbery
similar
sincerely
sophomore
souvenir
specifically
statistics
strenuous
stretch
stubbornness
subtle
subtly
succeed
success
succession
succinct
sufficient
summary
summation
summed
supersede
supposed
suppress
surely
surprise
surrounding
syllable
symmetry
symmetrical

T

tariff
technique
temperament
temperature
their
therefore
thorough
though
through
tobacco
tomorrow
tragedy
transferred
trespass
truly
Tuesday
twelfth
tyranny

U

unanimous
unconscious
uncontrollable
undoubtedly
unforeseen
unmistakably
unnatural
unnecessary
until
usable
useful
usually

V

vacuum
valuable
various
vegetable
vehicle
vengeance
villain
violence
vicious
visible

W

warring
weather
Wednesday
weird
where
whether
whistle
wholly
whose
writing
written

jls164 Thu, 09/18/2008 - 08:49