Only 5% Can Correctly Spell These Top Misspelled Words. Can You?

By BrainFall Staff - Updated: April 2, 2024

Spelling—it's the silent gatekeeper of our written brilliance, lurking in the background, ready to pop confetti balloons of self-esteem with every misplaced letter. We've all been there, typing furiously away, only to be betrayed by the red squiggly line of doom under what we thought was a perfectly good word. It turns out that spelling in English is a bit like trying to pat your head and rub your stomach at the same time; it requires a dash of skill, a pinch of memory, and a whole lot of "Wait, I before E except after C...or was it on weekends and holidays?"

So, we're throwing down the gauntlet: a quiz that'll test how well you can navigate the wild waters of commonly misspelled words. Are you part of the elite 5% who can spell these tricky terms without succumbing to autocorrect's siren call? Is your spelling knowledge as vast as the dictionary itself, or will you find yourself in the company of pretty much everyone ever who has stopped midsentence to ask, "Wait, how do you spell 'necessary' again?" Let's find out.

Join us on this riotous, letter-scrambling adventure, where we'll celebrate our collective spelling smarts and commiserate with our quirky English language confusions. Sharpen your pencils, warm up your typing fingers, and let's dive into the magical land of "I definitely knew how to spell that word"—no, really, we totally did.

The Spelling Conundrum

Buckle up, word warriors, because we're about to embark on a wild ride through the twisty maze of the English lexicon, where even the sharpest minds encounter the mischievous sprites of spelling snafus.

Tricky Letters and Common Pitfalls

Oh, the English language, you sly fox, luring us with your silent 'e's and phony 'ph's only to trip us up when we least expect it. Did you know that "accommodate" is one of the commonly misspelled words because it has more double letters than a bingo game at a twins convention? And let's not forget the classic mix-up between "their," "there," and "they're." They sound the same, but context is key, people! Without it, our sentences turn into semantic slip 'n slides.

• Their: possessive, as in "Their ability to spell was uncanny."
• There: location, e.g., "There should be a medal for spelling it right."
• They're: contraction of "they are", such as "They're nailing this spelling challenge."

The Brain vs. Autocorrect: A Modern Dilemma

Remember when we were just happy-go-lucky humans reading the back of cereal boxes without a care in the world? Then, autofill and autocorrect swooped into our lives like a flock of overeager pigeons. Sure, it saves us from typing out "antidisestablishmentarianism" every time we want to sound smart in an email, but beware — autocorrect has a knack for embarrassing us with spelling errors at the worst times possible.

• Autocorrect: "Did you mean 'ducks'?"
• Us, texting our boss: "Absolutely not."

Speller's Corner: Tips and Tricks

Alright, spelling sleuths, let's arm ourselves with some tried-and-true stratagems for conquering the spelling beast. We can't always rely on spellcheck, so learning some basic spelling rules is our secret weapon. And guess what? Reading a lot helps more than a caffeine boost on a Monday morning. Here are a couple of nifty tricks to keep up our lexical sleeve:

1. "I" before "E" except after "C," or when you run a feisty heist on a weird beige foreign neighbor.
2. When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking. Think "boat" or "neat." But hey, watch out for those sneaky exceptions like "bread" and "break."

And remember, average is just a stone's throw from 'avrage', and we wouldn't want that, would we? Keep practicing, team, and soon we'll be the spelling champions of the world... or at least, the champions of our group chat.

Are You Part of the Elite 5%?

Here's a keyboard-tapping, spell-casting adventure that only a lucky few can triumph over. Let's see if you're one of the elite spellers — the proud, the few, the 5% who can spell these tricky words without a speck of doubt or a stroke of backspace.

Breaking Down the Most Misspelled Words

Our brains can be devious little saboteurs, often leading us astray on what seems like the simplest of words. Like stealthy ninjas, certain misspelled words lurk in the English language, ready to trip us up. You might think you're chums with these words, but under pressure? That's the ultimate test. "Definitely" transforms into the infamous "definately," while "conscience" sneakily whispers, "Come on, spell me as 'conscious,' I dare you!" These spelling errors are like little gremlins cackling with glee when we get them wrong.

Conquering the Mount Everest of Spelling

Think conquering these words is an insurmountable feat, like scaling the jagged cliffs of Mount Everest in flip-flops? Think again! Arming ourselves with our keen knowledge of the alphabet soup of letters, and saying a firm "No!" to over-reliant spell-check can work wonders. English language, brace yourself because we're about to tackle the tumultuous terrain of "supersede" without a safety net. The funny part? Our future as spelling champions depends on knowing when "i" comes before "e" and when to boot it to the back of the line!