Commonly Misspelled Words

As you plug away at proofreading or catch mistakes while copyediting, youll see all sorts
of ways people misspell words. Writing down the wiliest of the lot is not only extremely
entertaining, but it also trains your brain to recognize the wonky spelling when it comes
up the next time. Heres a list to get you started.

A
absence
abundance
accessible
accommodate
achievement
ad nauseam
alcohol
a lot
amateur
apology
apparent
arctic
argument
ascend
atheist
auxiliary
B
balloon
barbecue
beggar
beginning
believe
benefit
broccoli
business
C
calendar
camouflage
carburetor
Caribbean
cemetery
characteristic
chili
committee
conceive
condescend
congratulations
conscious
controversial
courteous
D

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daiquiri
Dalmatian
deceive
defendant
definitely
desiccate
desperate
dictionary
disastrous
dumbbell
E
ecstasy
eighth
eligible
embarrass
environment
exceed
exercise
exhaust
F
facsimile
Fahrenheit
familiar
February
fiery
fluorescent
forfeit
forty
friend
fulfill
G
Gandhi
gauge
genius
government
grammar
guarantee
guerrilla
guttural
H
handkerchief
harass
height
hemorrhage
heroes
hierarchy
hors doeuvre
hypocrisy
I

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idiosyncrasy
ignorance
immediately
implement
independence
independent
inoculate
introduce
irresistible
island
J
jealousy
jewelry
judicial
Juilliard
K
knight
knowledge
L
laboratory
legitimate
length
leprechaun
liaise
liaison
license
lieutenant
lightning
liquefy
luxury
M
maintenance
maneuver
marriage
marshmallow
medicine
memento
millennium
miniature
minuscule
miscellaneous
mischievous
missile
misspell
mortgage
muscle
N
nauseous
necessary

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neighbor
neutron
newsstand
ninety
ninth
noticeable
nuisance
O
obedience
obstacle
occasionally
occurred
occurrence
official
omission
omit
omitted
opinion
opportunity
oppression
optimism
optimistic
orchestra
ordinarily
outrageous
overrun
P
pamphlets
parallel
particular
pastime
pavilion
peaceable
peculiar
penetrate
perceive
performance
permanent
permissible
permitted
perseverance
persistence
personnel
perspiration
pharaoh
physical
physician
piece
pleasant

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portray
possession
possibility
practically
practice
precede
precedence
preceding
preference
preferred
prejudice
preparation
presence
prevalent
principal
principle
privilege
probably
proceed
professor
pronunciation
propaganda
psychology
publicly
puerile
pursue
Q
quantity
quarantine
questionnaire
quizzes
R
raspberry
realistically
realize
recede
receipt
receive
recommend
reference
referring
relevant
relieving
religious
remembrance
reminiscence
renowned
reservoir
resistance

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restaurant
restaurateur
rhyme
rhythm
ridiculous
roommate
S
sacrifice
sacrilegious
safety
salary
sandals
schedule
secede
secretary
seize
seizure
sentence
separate
sergeant
simile
simultaneous
sincerely
sophomore
souvenir
specimen
sponsor
spontaneous
strategy
strength
stubbornness
subpoena
subtle
succeed
sufficient
supersede
suppress
surprise
susceptible
syllable
symmetrical
synonymous
T
technical
technique
temperamental
temperature
tendency
theories

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therefore
though
threshold
through
tomorrow
tournament
twelfth
tyranny
U
unanimous
unforgettable
unfortunately
unique
unnecessary
until
usage
usually
utilization
V
vacuum
valuable
vehicle
vengeance
village
villain
vinaigrette
violence
visible
vision
W
warrant
weather
Wednesday
weird
wholly
withdrawal
withhold
Y
yacht
yield
young

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