aisle bdellium czar djembe

gnat gnome heir herbivore

knight knob knock knowledge

mnemonic physical physics pneumatic

pneumonia psalm pseudonym psoriasis

psychiatrist psychosis pterodactyl tsunami

whose wreath wrestle wrinkle

absorption accompaniment accomplice

acquiesce acquittal affiliation

altercation ambassador ambiguous

animosity apparatus approximately

austerity authentic authenticate

auxiliary benevolent blasphemous

bravado camouflage capricious

carburetor cavalcade celestial

cerebral chagrin chaotic

chasm chastise chronic

citadel clique cocoon

conceivable concurrent conscientious

consciousness contiguous correspondence

corroborate curriculum defamation

deprivation derelict diffidence

disastrous dissociate distinction

diurnal dominant dormitory

drudgery elicit elimination
embroidery equinox escapade

espionage etiquette exaggeration

exemplary expediency expedient

expunge facsimile fallacy

feasibility fictitious finesse

fluorescent fulfill grammatically

gruesome handkerchief hideous

hindrance homogenize hypocrisy

idiosyncrasy impasse impropriety

incandescent incessant inconsolable

indelible indispensable indisputable

insufficient interrogative irreconcilable

irrelevant irrevocable judicious

justifiable labyrinth liaison

lustrous magnanimous magnificence

maintenance malicious martyr

melee metamorphosis molecular

monotony morose multiplicity

nausea nonchalance notoriety

oblique occasionally olfactory

omnipotent onomatopoeia palatable

pandemonium panorama partiality

pastime patriarch pediatrician

peril perjury philanthropist

picturesque pittance playwright

poignancy poignant potpourri

prejudice premonition primitive

proximity quibble quixotic

quizzical recipient redundant

reek relevancy remembrance

renegade renovate reservoir

respite retaliate retrieve

rococo sabotage salient

satisfactorily saunter scavenger

scourge scuttle seethe

significance soliloquy spasmodic

squalid strenuous stringent

subsequent subsistence succinct

summarize supersede surgeon

surveillance swelter synthesis

tantalize technician technique

tedious tenuous tirade

transcend transient transmutation

tremor turbulence ubiquitous

ulterior unanimous uncanny

uncouth undoubtedly unforgettable

upbraid variegated vengeance

versatile volatile vulnerable

vying wary

APHAERETIC

adj. Relating to the omission of the first letter of a word (e.g. 'round' for 'around').
 This was the word bullet that shot down Scott Firebaugh in the 2011AARP Spelling
Bee. Firebaugh was the 2010 AARP Champ, but was relegated to 3rd place in the
2011 event after misspelling this word as APHORETIC*. I was following the event at
the time, and that is exactly how I spelled it!

BOEOTIA — bē.ō.sh(ē).ə

n. A district in Ancient Greece.

BORBORYGMUS — bȯr.bə.rig.məs

n. A rumbling of the intestines.

"Then again, the spelling of even apparently rule-bound words from Latin and Greek
antiquity must be handled with care. A speller at the 2003 National Bee, Michael
Martinez, from New Mexico, learned this the hard way. He was given the
lovely borborygmus... He spelled it, reasonably, using the Latinate
suffix ous meaning 'full of,' as borborygmous - which is precisely how the word
sounds. And then, of course, he was sent offstage. Speller beware."

DAGUERREOTYPE — də.ge.rō.tīp

n. An early photographic technology.

ORFEVRERIE — ȯr.fe.vrə.rē

n. Gold or silver jewelry.

"The words are now torturous. Aliya Deri gets orfevrerie, a conflagration of French
and English history that resembles the Battle of Hastings, yet she greets it with an
unabashed smile. Her French classes allow her to slay the word with comparative
ease. She's looking like she could take the trophy."

PRAIRILLON — prā.ril.yən

n. A small prairie.

"He was dealt the word prairillon, a French word referring to a small prairie. He
attempted a characteristically French spelling ofprerillion, a misspelling that put
Jody-Anne in position to win."

PSITTACINE — si.tə.sīn

adj. Relating to a particular family of parrots.

RIJSTTAFEL — rīs.tä.fəl

n. An Indonesian rice dish.

SCHEHERAZADIAN — shə.her.ə.zä.dē.ən
 adj. Strangely fabulous.

"Ashkay, in an uncharacteristic gesture, pauses in spellingscheherazadian. He

masters the first syllable then stares off to his left. The audience holds its breath.
Rarely has a full ballroom been so still. He announces that he will start over... When
he starts again, he announces each letter with an even cadence, like a drummer at a
solemn occasion slowly tapping out a somber beat. He's correct. The crowd breaks
into applause, in response to which Akshay slowly blinks and mummy-walks back to
his seat."

UINTJIE
n. The edible corm of the 'chestnutty' Iridaceae family of plants.

David Riddle, multiple adult spelling bee champion, astounds the audience by
spelling this word correctly and, in the process, winning the Williamsburg Adult
Spelling Bee. The word was voted the hardest word ever spelled in the six-year
history of the bee!

VITROPHYRE — vi.trə.fī(ə)r

n. A type of glassy rock.

VORAGO — və.rā.gō

n. A deep chasm.

"Kerry, however, runs into a wall. Her word is vorago. But it doesn't sound
like vorago; it sounds like varago, or possiblyverago, or, maybe, vurago. Formed
from a Latin root, the word means an engulfing chasm; an abyss. And that's exactly
what Kerry looks into as she considers the word. She doesn't know it, and she's
going to have to guess."

Had enough? What?! You mean you're hungry for...

More Difficult Spelling Words?

Well, since I've just been talking about the National Spelling Bee, here's another nasty
spelling list. Below are all the words that have won theScripps Bee for the last 20 years. In
other words, each of the words in this list was the final word that was correctly spelled by
the last speller standing after months of grueling playoffs!

1990 FIBRANNE
1991 ANTIPYRETIC
1992 LYCEUM
1993 KAMIKAZE
1994 ANTEDILUVIAN
1995 XANTHOSIS
1996 VIVISEPULTURE
1997 EUONYM
1998 CHIAROSCURIST
1999 LOGORRHEA
2000 DEMARCHE
2001 SUCCEDANEUM
2002 PROSPICIENCE
2003 POCOCURANTE
2004 AUTOCHTHONOUS
2005 APPOGGIATURA
2006 URSPRACHE
2007 SERREFINE
2008 GUERDON
2009 LAODICEAN
2010 STROMUHR
2011 CYMOTRICHOUS

hellebore
any plant of the Eurasian genus Helleborus

encephalon
that part of the central nervous system that includes all the higher nervous centers

desecration
blasphemous behavior

mercenary
a person hired to fight for another country than their own

darjeeling
a type of black tea grown in the Darjeeling region of India

hypsometer
an altimeter that uses the boiling point of water to determine land elevation
seguidilla
a vocal genre that features a stanza that alternates lines consisting of seven and five
syllables

disclaimant
one who makes a disclaimer

kookaburra
Australian kingfisher having a loud cackling cry

viand
a choice or delicious dish

apocope
abbreviation of a word by omitting the final sound or sounds

brunneous
dark brown

clavecin
French term for HARPSICHORD.

eccentricities
odd behavior

kirtle
a long dress worn by women
opsimath
A person who begins to learn late in life

logorrhea
pathologically excessive (and often incoherent) talking

acoelous
flat centra

quinquevir
one of a commission, council, or ruling body of five (as in ancient Rome)

yenta
(Yiddish) a woman gossip unable to keep a secret

butyraceous
having the qualities of butter or yielding or containing a substance like butter

serendipitous
being lucky in making unexpected and furtunate discoveries

baroquely
characterized by grotesqueness, extravagance, complexity, or flamboyance

abstemious
sparing in consumption of especially food and drink
ipseity
selfhood; state of being oneself

supposititious
fraudulently substituted

atypical
not conforming to type

zealous
marked by active interest and enthusiasm

orthography
a method of representing the sounds of a language by written or printed symbols

psychosomatic
used of illness or symptoms resulting from neurosis

ecclesiasticism
excessive adherence to ecclesiastical forms and activities

propensity
a natural inclination

verbosity
an expressive style that uses excessive words
sincipital
concerning the fore and upper part of the cranium

manifestation
a public display of group feelings (usually of a political nature)

infeasible
not capable of being carried out or put into practice

cupronickel
a 60/40 alloy of copper and nickel

mannerism
a deliberate pretense or exaggerated display

intelligent
having the capacity for thought and reason especially to a high degree

mannerheim
Finnish Commander in Chief during WW II 1939-40, was very adamant about not
backing down from the Soviets and kept fighting to protect Finland. Used tactics such
as bi-at halon people do ski and shoot more guerrilla warfare than soviets used to.
Soviets eventually win because of sheer numbers. Big point is that Soviets realize how
week their army is and spend the next year getting new leadership and equipment.
Also leads Hitler to believe the Russians will not put up a fight when he invades.

abstemious
sparing in consumption of especially food and drink
acoelous
flat centra

apocope
abbreviation of a word by omitting the final sound or sounds

atypical
not conforming to type

baroquely
characterized by grotesqueness, extravagance, complexity, or flamboyance

brunneous
dark brown

butyraceous
having the qualities of butter or yielding or containing a substance like butter

clavecin
French term for HARPSICHORD.

cupronickel
a 60/40 alloy of copper and nickel

darjeeling
a type of black tea grown in the Darjeeling region of India
desecration
blasphemous behavior

disclaimant
one who makes a disclaimer

eccentricities
odd behavior

ecclesiasticism
excessive adherence to ecclesiastical forms and activities

encephalon
that part of the central nervous system that includes all the higher nervous centers

hellebore
any plant of the Eurasian genus Helleborus

hypsometer
an altimeter that uses the boiling point of water to determine land elevation

infeasible
not capable of being carried out or put into practice

intelligent
having the capacity for thought and reason especially to a high degree
ipseity
selfhood; state of being oneself

kirtle
a long dress worn by women

kookaburra
Australian kingfisher having a loud cackling cry

logorrhea
pathologically excessive (and often incoherent) talking

manifestation
a public display of group feelings (usually of a political nature)

mannerheim
Finnish Commander in Chief during WW II 1939-40, was very adamant about not
backing down from the Soviets and kept fighting to protect Finland. Used tactics such
as bi-at halon people do ski and shoot more guerrilla warfare than soviets used to.
Soviets eventually win because of sheer numbers. Big point is that Soviets realize how
week their army is and spend the next year getting new leadership and equipment.
Also leads Hitler to believe the Russians will not put up a fight when he invades.

mannerism
a deliberate pretense or exaggerated display

mercenary
a person hired to fight for another country than their own
opsimath
A person who begins to learn late in life

orthography
a method of representing the sounds of a language by written or printed symbols

propensity
a natural inclination

psychosomatic
used of illness or symptoms resulting from neurosis

quinquevir
one of a commission, council, or ruling body of five (as in ancient Rome)

seguidilla
a vocal genre that features a stanza that alternates lines consisting of seven and five
syllables

serendipitous
being lucky in making unexpected and furtunate discoveries

sincipital
concerning the fore and upper part of the cranium

supposititious
fraudulently substituted
verbosity
an expressive style that uses excessive words

viand
a choice or delicious dish

yenta
(Yiddish) a woman gossip unable to keep a secret

zealous
marked by active interest and enthusiasm