Study Tips & Sample Word List
Remember that words used in the AARP National Spelling Bee are found in Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition. The following sample list will help you get started studying as an individual or in a group. Good spelling!
Click here for Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day.
More words, more practice, more fun! Sign up here for Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day e-mail – a daily dose of word power.
Words used in the 2009 Bee
2009 word list
(printable version)
Written Round 1
1. howdy
2. axiom
3. posse
4. foray
5. parish
6. lowbrow
7. cannonade
8. kudos
9. transcendental
10. prairie
11. gastroenteritis
12. plausible
13. dire
14. cartographic
15. gosling
16. permeate
17. zeppelin
18. miscall
19. prognostication
20 debeak
21. vocabulary
22. motility
23. replete
24. scrupulously
25. apiarist
Written Round 2
26. vaguest
27. brigadier
28. skiing
29. effigy
30. lollop
31. oration
32. anemometers
33. colitis
34. reticent
35. purloin
36. onus
37. choreographer
38. carronade
39. bailiff`
40. debouch
41. audacity
42. xylophone
43. martyr
44. statism
45. monocotyledonous
46. profiterole
47. diocesan
48. slumgullion
49. kenosis
50. prevenient
Written Round 3
51. exordium
52. senioritis
53. corollary
54. laryngitis
55. rectory
56. tergiversate
57. fusillade
58. lexicographer
59. camouflage
60. granitoid
61. screeds
62. hippieish
63. arabesque
64. diazepam
65. metadata
66. impecunious
67. misspell
68. occurrence
69. quetzal
70. glitterati
71. misogyny
72. misandry
73. xeric
74. plinth
75. wahine Written Round 4
76. librae
77. plenitudinous
78. chlamys
79. secateurs
80. lakh
81. execrable
82. psittacine
83. jocosity
84. gravid
85. frigorific
86. pleonasm
87. sinfonietta
88. officinal
89. aubergine
90. acedia
91. chrysalis
92. aerenchyma
93. dickcissel
94. moquette
95. quintal
96. hypaethral
97. vinaceous
98. aioli
99. camaraderie
100. arrivederci
Warm-Up Oral Round
101. paucity
102. pleurisy
103. patina
104. tranquil
105. calendar
106. acrimonious
107. equine
108. hasty
109. gigabyte
110. inveigh
111. hubris
112. colleague
113. maturation
114. nuisance
115. regimen
115a. surrogate
Championship Oral Rounds
116. normothermia
117. appositional
118. kerfuffle
119. sycophantically
120. hemorrhaged
121. venturous
122. odious
123. theurgy
124. cabotage
125. quaalude
126. samisen
127. propitious
128. legerity
129. senarius
130. putamen
131. vetiver
132. caducity
133. tennesi
134. poetaster
135. farceur
136. deglutition
137. quiddity
138. terpsichorean
139. efflorescence
140. misprisions
141. heinie
142. rugose
143. weltanschauung
144. treponema
145. paronomastic
146. sfumato
147. hachures
148. chiaroscuro
149. zoisite
150. marchpane
151. pinniped
152. clochard
153. mignonette
154. blae
155. verdigris
156. ambuscade
157. muskeg
158. triskaidekaphobia
159. brolly
160. nacreous
161. turbid
162. innominate
163. avocet
164. sempiternal
165. perionychium
166. bouillabaisse
167. tusche
168. knobkerrie
169. mellifluous
170. trinitrotoluene
171. darmstadtium
172. ailurophile
173. tchotchke
174. coriaceous
175. zori
176. seigneury
177. banausic
178. otiose
179. supposititious
180. uropygium
181. anacreontic
182. yohimbe
183. apteryx
184. isohyetal
185. eulachon
186. umbelliferous
187. dystocia
188. hendiadys
189. solubilization
190. issei
191. nimiety
192. armigerous
193. trichotillomania
194. illocutionary
195. oneiric
196. effendi
197. tenesmus
198. hepatomegaly
199. suzerainty
200. quoin
201. meretricious
202. reseaux
203. cheliped
204. hoick
205. eximious
206. archaeopteryx
207. enceinte
208. omphalos
209. guidon
210. androecia
211. verrucose
212. roux
213. bildungsroman
214. paillard
215. cacique
216. dysphemism
217. ichneumon
218. wappenschawing
219. bonhomie
220. apocope
221. palliasse
222. maieutic
223. nociceptive
224. flehmen
225. scilicet
226. jipijapa
227. erythropoiesis
228. hosel
229. onomatopoeia
230. cycadeoid
231. ecdysiast
232. axolotl
233. fescennine
234. cheongsam
235. enthymeme
236. weigela
237. souchong
238. chinoiserie
239. gouache
240. ctenophore
241. aiguille
242. fascicles
243. susurrus
244. entremets
245. chaetognath
246. inspissate
247. urushiol
248. abattoir
249. hyrax
250. dassie
251. virescent
252. chthonian
253. ecdysis
254. battue
255. sesquipedalian
256. feuilleton
257. voulu
258. indagate
259. pilgarlic
260. gneissose
261. diapirs
262. gynoecium
263. pettitoes
264. eupeptic
265. ikat
266. eyas
267. umami
268. louche
269. euonymus
270. hypoeutectoid
271. muliebrity
272. irredentism
273. quodlibet
274. kohlrabi
275. revanche
276. fuliginous
277. argufier
278. embonpoint
279. clepe
280. fylfot
281. moue
282. neurohypophysis
283. entomophagous
284. fugacious
285. coir
286. velleity
287. eft
288. catafalque
289. oogenesis
290. saponaceous
291. pseudepigraphon
292. cytochalasins
293. faille
294. qigong
295. neume
296. eisteddfod
297. rapporteur
298. karyology
299. xanthophylls
300. succedaneous
301. psephology
302. enfleurage
303. isopachs
304. semelparous
305. framboise
306. etymon
307. ochlocracy
308. keiretsu
309. scyphistoma
310. iraimbilanja
311. vorlage
312. laogai
313. pseudocoel
314. duiker
315. giaour
316. vibrissae
317. carrefour
318. sferics
319. adipocere
320. qiviut
321. skipped, used already as #227
322. woad
323. etui
|
