English, with its vast vocabulary and quirky spellings, can be quite a challenge even for the seasoned scribe. Whether you're penning your first novel, drafting an important email, or just trying to leave an error-free comment on social media, a few words might trip you up more than others.
To guide you through the maze of English spelling, I've dived into a dozen online articles and curated a list of the 50 most frequently misspelled words. Some of these may surprise you, while others will have you nodding in agreement, recalling the number of times autocorrect had to step in.
Here they are, in alphabetical order:
Accommodate - Remember, it has room for two 'm's and two 'o's!
Acquire
Amateur
Apparent
Argument - Only one 'e' is needed.
Atheist
Believe - As the old saying goes, âi before e, except after c.â
Calendar
Cemetery - No 'a' here.
Collectible
Column - Silent 'n' at the end.
Conscience - Not to be confused with "conscious."
Consensus
Definitely - There's no 'a' in definite.
Dilemma
Disappear - Double 'p' and one 's'.
Discipline
Drunkenness
Embarrass - Two 'r's and two 's's.
Environment
Existence
Fierce
Fluorescent
Foreign - Itâs "e before i" in this case.
Gauge
Grateful - Not to be mistaken with "greatful."
Harass
Height - It ends with 'ht', not 'th'.
Humorous
Ignorance
Immediately
Independent
Indispensable
Innocent
Intelligence
Jewelry - In the U.S., it's "jewelry." In the U.K., it's "jewellery."
Judgment - No 'e' after the 'g'.
Leisure
Liaison
Library - Not "liberry."
License
Lightning - Not to be confused with "lightening."
Maintenance
Millennium - Double 'l' and double 'n'.
Miniature
Minuscule - Starts with "minus," not "mini."
Mischievous - The 'i' comes before 'e'.
Misspell - Ironically, one of the easiest words to misspell.
Neighbor
Noticeable - Keep the 'e' when adding -able.
Bookmark this list or print it out, and the next time you're in doubt about the spelling of a word, refer back. Remember, even the best of us can get tripped up by English spelling from time to time. Practice makes perfect!