Meaning & use
commonly misspelled words
Last updated
Meaning
phraseplural
Words that many writers get wrong in spelling, usually because their letters do not match how they sound.
Grammar: Plural noun phrase with a plural verb: commonly misspelled words are tricky.
Patterns
- a list of commonly misspelled words
- one of the most commonly misspelled words
Our teacher handed out a list of commonly misspelled words, including separate and necessary.
Receive and believe are among the most commonly misspelled words in English.
The newspaper keeps a guide to commonly misspelled words for its editors.
Common combinations
- list of commonly misspelled words
- She pinned a list of commonly misspelled words above her desk.
- test on commonly misspelled words
- We had a test on commonly misspelled words every Friday.
- learn commonly misspelled words
- Learn commonly misspelled words by making up memory tricks.
- check commonly misspelled words
- Editors check commonly misspelled words before printing.
Synonyms and how they differ
- spelling traps
- Spelling traps is a lively informal phrase for the same words, while commonly misspelled words is the plain descriptive term.
- tricky words
- Tricky words is broader and can cover difficult pronunciation or meaning as well as spelling.
- spelling demons
- Spelling demons is a teacher's term for the most stubborn words to spell.
Word family
- misspell verb
- to spell a word wrongly
- misspelling noun
- a wrong spelling of a word
- misspelled adjective
- spelled incorrectly
- spelling noun
- the way a word is written with letters
Commonly confused: commonly misspelled words or misspelt?
commonly misspelled words vs misspelt
Misspelt is the British past form of misspell, while misspelled is standard in American English.
Practice
Which word is often found on lists of commonly misspelled words because of its double letters?
Choose one answer.
Accommodate has double c and double m, which writers often get wrong. The other words are short and regular, so they are rarely misspelled.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “commonly misspelled words”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.