Spelling Bee Words for Adults
80 words for an adult, office or family spelling bee, in three rounds from familiar words with a catch to the hardest words on this site. Each one has its meaning and a guide to saying it, so whoever reads the words aloud can pronounce them.
The three rounds
| Round | Words | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Round 1: Familiar words with a catch | 20 | accommodate, aesthetic, camouflage, chauffeur |
| Round 2: Hard vocabulary | 40 | abstruse, acumen, bombastic, cacophony |
| Round 3: The hardest words on the site | 20 | anachronism, antediluvian, bourgeois, camaraderie |
The rounds are the hardest tiers of our grade 8 and high school spelling bee words, which also have a practice quiz and flashcards. For every grade on one page, see the full spelling bee word list.
Round 1: Familiar words with a catch
Words you see often, most of them hiding a doubled letter, a silent letter or a spelling borrowed from another language. 20 words.
- accommodate
- uh-KOM-uh-date · verb
- To provide enough room for, or to adjust to fit someone's needs.
- aesthetic
- es-THET-ik · adjective
- Having to do with beauty and how things look.
- camouflage
- KAM-uh-flozh · noun
- Coloring or covering that helps something blend in.
- chauffeur
- SHOH-fer · noun
- A person employed to drive someone's car.
- colloquial
- kuh-LOH-kwee-ul · adjective
- Used in ordinary conversation rather than in formal writing.
- conscientious
- kon-shee-EN-shus · adjective
- Careful to do your work thoroughly and well.
- exacerbate
- ig-ZAS-ur-bate · verb
- To make a bad situation worse.
- exhilarate
- ig-ZIL-uh-rate · verb
- To make someone feel very happy and full of energy.
- idiosyncrasy
- id-ee-oh-SING-kruh-see · noun
- An unusual habit or feature belonging to one person.
- inoculate
- ih-NOK-yuh-late · verb
- To give someone a vaccine to protect against disease.
- maneuver
- muh-NOO-vur · noun
- A skillful or carefully planned movement.
- millennium
- mih-LEN-ee-um · noun
- A period of one thousand years.
- perseverance
- pur-suh-VEER-uns · noun
- Continuing to try despite difficulty.
- pharaoh
- FAIR-oh · noun
- A ruler of ancient Egypt.
- plagiarism
- PLAY-juh-riz-um · noun
- Using someone else's words or ideas as if they were your own.
- reminisce
- rem-uh-NIS · verb
- To talk or think fondly about the past.
- silhouette
- sil-oo-ET · noun
- A dark outline of something seen against a light background.
- superfluous
- soo-PUR-floo-us · adjective
- More than is needed, and therefore unnecessary.
- surveillance
- sur-VAY-lunce · noun
- A close watch kept over a person or place.
- vacuum
- VAK-yoom · noun
- A space with no air or matter in it.
Round 2: Hard vocabulary
Longer words, mostly from Latin and Greek, where knowing the meaning helps more than the sound does. 40 words.
- abstruse
- ab-STROOS · adjective
- Hard to understand.
- acumen
- AK-yoo-mun · noun
- The ability to make good judgments quickly.
- bombastic
- bom-BAS-tik · adjective
- Using language that sounds important but means little.
- cacophony
- kuh-KOF-uh-nee · noun
- A harsh, unpleasant mixture of sounds.
- capricious
- kuh-PRISH-us · adjective
- Changing suddenly and without a clear reason.
- deleterious
- del-ih-TEER-ee-us · adjective
- Causing harm or damage.
- demagogue
- DEM-uh-gog · noun
- A leader who wins support by appealing to emotion rather than reason.
- ebullient
- ih-BUL-yunt · adjective
- Cheerful and full of energy.
- esoteric
- es-uh-TAIR-ik · adjective
- Understood by only a small group of people.
- fastidious
- fa-STID-ee-us · adjective
- Very attentive to detail and hard to please.
- fortuitous
- for-TOO-ih-tus · adjective
- Happening by chance, often luckily.
- garrulous
- GAIR-uh-lus · adjective
- Talking a great deal, especially about small matters.
- grandiloquent
- gran-DIL-uh-kwunt · adjective
- Using grand or showy language.
- harangue
- huh-RANG · noun
- A long, forceful, scolding speech.
- hegemony
- hih-JEM-uh-nee · noun
- Leadership or dominance over others.
- iconoclast
- eye-KON-uh-klast · noun
- Someone who attacks accepted beliefs or traditions.
- impetuous
- im-PECH-oo-us · adjective
- Acting quickly without thinking.
- jettison
- JET-ih-sun · verb
- To throw off or discard something.
- kaleidoscope
- kuh-LY-duh-skohp · noun
- A tube of mirrors that shows changing patterns of color.
- laconic
- luh-KON-ik · adjective
- Using very few words.
- lucrative
- LOO-kruh-tiv · adjective
- Producing a lot of money.
- magnanimous
- mag-NAN-uh-mus · adjective
- Generous and forgiving, especially toward a rival.
- mellifluous
- muh-LIF-loo-us · adjective
- Sweet and smooth to listen to.
- nefarious
- nih-FAIR-ee-us · adjective
- Wicked or criminal.
- obfuscate
- OB-fuh-skate · verb
- To deliberately make something unclear.
- obstreperous
- ub-STREP-ur-us · adjective
- Noisy and hard to control.
- panacea
- pan-uh-SEE-uh · noun
- A cure for all problems.
- pernicious
- per-NISH-us · adjective
- Causing harm in a gradual, hidden way.
- querulous
- KWER-uh-lus · adjective
- Complaining in a whining way.
- quixotic
- kwik-SOT-ik · adjective
- Idealistic in an impractical way.
- recalcitrant
- rih-KAL-sih-trunt · adjective
- Stubbornly refusing to obey or cooperate.
- reticent
- RET-ih-sunt · adjective
- Not willing to say much.
- soliloquy
- suh-LIL-uh-kwee · noun
- A speech an actor makes alone on stage.
- sycophant
- SIK-uh-funt · noun
- A person who flatters others to gain advantage.
- taciturn
- TAS-ih-turn · adjective
- Saying very little by nature.
- truculent
- TRUK-yuh-lunt · adjective
- Eager to argue or fight.
- ubiquitous
- yoo-BIK-wih-tus · adjective
- Seeming to be everywhere at once.
- vicissitude
- vih-SIS-ih-tood · noun
- A change of circumstances, usually an unwelcome one.
- winsome
- WIN-sum · adjective
- Charming in an innocent, appealing way.
- zealous
- ZEL-us · adjective
- Showing great energy and enthusiasm for a cause.
Round 3: The hardest words on the site
French borrowings like rendezvous and denouement, and long Latin ones like verisimilitude. A good final round. 20 words.
- anachronism
- uh-NAK-ruh-niz-um · noun
- Something placed in the wrong time period.
- antediluvian
- an-tee-dih-LOO-vee-un · adjective
- Extremely old or out of date.
- bourgeois
- boor-ZHWAH · adjective
- Belonging to the middle class, often with conventional tastes.
- camaraderie
- kah-muh-RAH-duh-ree · noun
- Friendship and trust among a group.
- chrysanthemum
- krih-SAN-thuh-mum · noun
- A garden flower with many narrow petals, blooming in autumn.
- denouement
- day-noo-MAHN · noun
- The final part of a story, where everything is resolved.
- effervescent
- ef-ur-VES-unt · adjective
- Bubbly, or lively and enthusiastic.
- ephemeral
- ih-FEM-er-ul · adjective
- Lasting only a very short time.
- ignominious
- ig-nuh-MIN-ee-us · adjective
- Deserving or causing public shame.
- insouciance
- in-SOO-see-uns · noun
- A relaxed lack of concern.
- legerdemain
- lej-ur-duh-MAYN · noun
- Sleight of hand, or clever trickery.
- machination
- mak-ih-NAY-shun · noun
- A crafty scheme intended to do harm.
- obsequious
- ub-SEE-kwee-us · adjective
- Obedient and attentive to an excessive degree.
- onomatopoeia
- on-uh-mah-tuh-PEE-uh · noun
- A word that imitates the sound it describes.
- perspicacious
- pur-spih-KAY-shus · adjective
- Having sharp insight and understanding.
- prestidigitation
- pres-tih-dij-ih-TAY-shun · noun
- Skillful sleight of hand, as in magic tricks.
- quintessential
- kwin-tuh-SEN-shul · adjective
- Being the most perfect example of something.
- rendezvous
- RON-day-voo · noun
- A meeting arranged for a particular time and place.
- surreptitious
- sur-up-TISH-us · adjective
- Done secretly, to avoid being noticed.
- verisimilitude
- ver-ih-sih-MIL-ih-tood · noun
- The appearance of being true or real.
Spelling bee words for adults, answered
What are good spelling bee words for adults?
Words an adult can say and define but cannot spell from sound alone. Round 1 above is a good start: accommodate, conscientious, millennium and silhouette all look easy until you have to spell them out loud.
What are hard spelling bee words for adults?
Rounds 2 and 3. The final twenty come from the challenging tier of our high school list and include prestidigitation, verisimilitude, onomatopoeia and chrysanthemum. Each has its meaning and pronunciation on this page.
Are there fun spelling bee words for adults?
Some words here are as much fun to say as to spell: onomatopoeia, cacophony, kaleidoscope, mellifluous and prestidigitation. We do not keep a separate list of joke or themed words.
How do you run a spelling bee for adults?
In the usual format, a reader says each word, gives its meaning or uses it in a sentence if asked, and the speller spells it aloud letter by letter. A misspelled word puts that speller out, and the last one left wins. Starting with Round 1 and moving up keeps the early rounds friendly, and the pronunciation guide beside each word helps the reader.
Can I print these words?
Yes. Round 1 is on the free grade 8 printable, and rounds 2 and 3 are on the free high school printable. On the printables page, enter your email and we send you the PDF link, or view and print the list online with no email at all.
Are these official spelling bee words?
No. They are our own lists, compiled for this site, and we have no affiliation with the Scripps National Spelling Bee or any adult bee. Check with your organizer if your bee uses a set word list.
Practice the hardest rounds with the high school practice quiz, or print them from the printables page.
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