School Spelling Dictionary
Find a word even if you can't spell it
Praise for the SchoolSpellingDictionary
“Brilliant! For all those who struggle to spell, it really is a fantastic help.”
– Teacher
“An invaluable approach that will unlock ways of improving all written work.”
– LoveReading4Kids
“Easy to navigate and a big help for reluctant spellers of all ages.”
– Family Magazine
“Allows children with specific spelling difficulties to use a dictionary just like anyone else.”
– Teacher
“Brilliant for my son who has dyslexia … helps to boost his confidence.”
– Parent
“Such an amazing resource to support writing and spelling independence for those with dyslexic challenges.”
– Bromley Dyslexia
“Super-accessible and easy to use … allows kids to work independently or with a TA supporting them to find words.”
– Secondary SENCO teacher
School Spelling Dictionary
Christine Maxwell, PhD and Julia Rowlandson, BA Hons, PGCE, Dip RSA, SpLD
Published by Barrington Stoke
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 Robroyston Gate, Glasgow G33 1JN
www.barringtonstoke.co.uk
HarperCollinsPublishers
Macken House, 39/40 Mayor Street Upper, Dublin 1, DO1 C9W8, Ireland
Dictionary of Perfect Spelling © 2005 Christine Maxwell
The moral right of the author has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988
Barrington Stoke School Spelling Dictionary produced under licence: First edition © 2007 Barrington Stoke Limited
This updated edition © 2025 HarperCollinsPublishers Cover design © 2025 HarperCollinsPublishers
ISBN 978-0-00-874342-0 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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Contents
Acknowledgements vi
How to Use This Dictionary vii
Guide to Dictionary Entries viii
Spelling Facts ix–xii
Ways to Learn Spelling xiii–xv
School Spelling Dictionary A–Z 1–255
Acknowledgements
Julia Rowlandson, BA Hons, PGCE, Dip RSA, SpLD
In my work as Head of English in a school for boys with specific learning difficulties, and as a mother of a child with dyslexia, I frequently witnessed their frustrations when trying to use a conventional dictionary to check spellings.
Following the format set out in Christine Maxwell’s inspirational Dictionary of Perfect Spelling, we worked on a simplified version – the School Spelling Dictionary – enabling spellers to check the accuracy of their spelling attempt, whether phonic-based or otherwise.
My thanks go to all the children who contributed misspellings and to Christine Maxwell, Ailsa Bathgate at Barrington Stoke and Maree Airlie at HarperCollins for working with me on this updated version.
Christine Maxwell, PhD
I am deeply grateful to my long-time co-author Julia Rowlandson, whose intellectual rigour and collaborative spirit have been and continue to be very instrumental in shaping this work and its previous editions.
Special thanks to Barrington Stoke Publishers, who supported this reference work from its inception in 2005, providing a robust foundation for its unique reputation among school dictionaries. I am equally appreciative of HarperCollins for their commitment to continuing this dictionary’s mission of empowering dyslexic and other spelling-challenged students of all ages and abilities.
How to Use This Dictionary
Looking up a word
This dictionary works just like any other – you look up words that you want to spell correctly. But this dictionary is easier to use because you can look up words the way you think they are spelt.
First, you need to look up the word you want to check, just like in any other dictionary. If you see the word in red, this is not the correct spelling. Beside it, you will find the correct spelling in black.
For example: cerfew curfew
cerial cereal *[grain]
serial *[sequence]
cerialise serialise
cerkit circuit
cername surname
cerse curse
cersor cursor
If you can’t find the word you want, the busy bee will suggest places you can look.
For example: under hurbivor you will find:
Check out her as well
[hovering hovered] much] who *[?]
[howling howled] hound house hoist who *[?] hutch hood
Black words show a correct spelling.
[huddling huddled]
Plural forms are shown where they have an irregular spelling pattern.
[hugging hugged]
*[clasp] huge *[large]
hugeness huge hooligan
hulking
Red words show an incorrect spelling.
[humming hummed]
*[person]
*[caring] humanely
Busy bees suggest other places to look.
humanist humanism
humbly humour
humeruss humorous
humidity
humiliate humiliation [humiliating humiliated]
Guide to Dictionary Entries
humility
humorous *[funny] humerus *[arm bone]
humour [humouring humoured] hump ~back
hunch hunches [hunching hunched]
hundred hundredth huney honey hung hunger hungry hungrier hungriest hungrily hunk hunny honey hunt [hunting hunted] hunter
huntsman hurbivor herbivore
Check out her as well
hurd heard *[ear] herd *[animals]
hurdle [hurdling hurdled]
huriball horrible
hurikane hurricane
Compound words are shown using ~ to represent the prefix. Related words are shown with their main form.
Comparative and superlative adjectives are shown. Verb endings are shown for different tenses.
Information in italics helps with words that could be easily confused.
Spelling Facts
Spelling words in English can be very difficult and confusing because groups of letters can make more than one sound. However, around 84% of words do stick to rules, and the tips on pages ix to xii are there to help you. We call the other 16% of words “irregular” because they do not follow rules or patterns, and you need to find ways to remember them. Pages xiii to xv will give you some ideas of ways to learn them.
We all need to spell words the same way to make sure that we can write what we want to say, and so that everyone who reads what we write can understand exactly what we mean.
Tips to help with spelling
You can learn to build words from a root word by adding prefixes and suffixes
• root words: these are the basic words that have nothing added to them
• prefixes: these are groups of letters you can add to the front of a word to make a whole new word
For example: unhappy submarine prefix
• suffixes: these are groups of letters you can add to the end of a word to make a whole new word
For example: beautiful jumping opened
In some cases, you can add prefixes and suffixes to a root word.
For example: stand, understand, understanding, misunderstanding
Some useful English spelling rules
It does help to learn them!
1. Remember vowels (a e i o u) can make a short sound or a long sound.
For example: /a˘ / as in apple (short like its sound); /a¯ / as in ape (long like its name).
2. y has four sounds. It can be a vowel as well as a consonant.
For example: yak, cry, rhythm, happy.
3. q always has u with it and is written qu, as in quiz and question
4. Very few words end in v. In most words, e comes after v, as in active and native
5. Very few English words end in j. The j sound is often made by /dge/, as in fudge.
6. Never write a k before a t. Always write ct, as in fact and direct
7. Very few words end in i.
Watch out for rule breakers: taxi and ski, spaghetti and macaroni. These words come from other countries.
8. The ee sound at the end of a word is mostly spelt y.
Watch out for rule breakers: coffee and committee.
9. Double the l, f and s after a single vowel in a short word. For example: spell, boss, stiff, puff
Watch out for rule breakers: nil, pal, if, of, bus, gas, this, yes.
10. The prefix all at the start of a word is only spelt with one l.
For example: almost, altogether, also, already.
11. The suffixes full and till at the end of the word only have one l. For example: helpful, until.
12. Remember the suffix to make an adverb is ly not ley. For example: suddenly.
13. ck, dge, tch are used after a short vowel (one that says its sound).
For example: back, hedge, match.
Watch out for rule breakers: rich, much, such, which.
14. ce, ci, cy make the /s/ sound.
For example: centre, circle, cycle.
15. ge, gi, gy make the /j/ sound. For example: gentle, giant, gym.
16. i comes before e except after c, but not when it sounds like /a¯ / as in neighbour and weigh. Watch out for rule breakers: neither, foreign, seized, sovereign, forfeit, height, weird.
Spelling changes in English
1. Drop the final e from the root word before adding a suffix (a group of letters you can add to the end of the word) that starts with a vowel. For example: move / + ed moved like / + ing liking drive / + er driver muddle / + ed muddled
2. If a word ends in a consonant + y, change the y to i before adding any ending except ing. For example: marry+ es marries funny + ly funnily BUT: fly + ing = flying; carry + ing = carrying.
3. If a word ends in a vowel + y, just add s. For example: donkey donkeys holiday holidays guy guys
4. If a word has one short vowel and ends in one final consonant, always double the final consonant before adding a suffix that starts with a vowel. For example: stop + ed stopped fat + er fatter hot + est hottest rob + ing robbing
How to make plurals in English
1. Add s to make a regular plural. For example: cat cats monkey monkeys smile smiles
2. Add es to make a plural if the word has a hissing ending, like s, x, sh, ch and ss. For example: bus buses fox foxes brush brushes church churches fuss fusses
3. If a word ends in one f or in fe, change it to v and add es to make the plural. For example: leaf leaves wolf wolves wife wives
Watch out for rule breakers: dwarfs, chiefs, roofs.
4. For most words that end in o, add es to make the plural. For example: potato potatoes tomato tomatoes
Watch out for rule breakers: pianos, solos, avocados.
5. Some words stay the same in singular and plural. For example: sheep sheep deer deer goldfish goldfish
6. A small group of words do not follow any rules in the plural. For example: child children foot feet mouse mice person people
Ways to Learn Spelling
Hear it See it Do it
To remember a spelling, try these helpful TIPS:
1. Think about the word that you are trying to spell and make sure you understand what it means. Learning about the meanings of prefixes and suffixes will help you to do this.
2. Divide it into syllables (chunks). You can find where they are by putting your hand under your chin and counting how many times your chin goes down when you say the word. For example: Sat/ur/day = 3 chin drops = 3 syllables. Note that each syllable must have a vowel. The vowel can sometimes be y.
3. Talk about which parts of the word are hard to spell and highlight them.
4. Practise spelling the word at odd times. For example: on the way to school, in the shower, etc.
5. Learn other words with the same pattern to make them easy to remember. For example: few, crew, grew, flew, blew, etc.
6. Use your different senses to help you remember:
Sound – say it aloud to yourself, sing it, turn it into a rap, quiz a friend.
Sight – practise writing it, use different colours, look at the tall letters and short letters, draw pictures as clues, pretend your eyes are a camera and take a photo of it.
Touch – if you are a person who likes to learn by doing things, make huge letters in the air, walk up and down chanting the spellings. Do an action that links to the word, decide how many sounds are in the word and, with the palm of your hand facing you, touch a finger as you say each sound.
7. For irregular words, think of something to trigger your memory. Or try a mnemonic – a silly sentence to help you remember the sequence of letters. Remember, the sillier your rhyme is, the easier it is to remember how to spell the word. It is a good idea to link the sentence to the word you are spelling. For example, “Save Animals In Danger,” said Tom.
8. Talk about the spelling word and teach it to a parent or friend.
Let’s try it!
Let’s learn to spell the word people using a technique with a very long name – neurolinguistic programming, or NLP for short.
1. Write people on a card in large lower-case letters.
2. Talk about the bit that makes it hard to learn – you can’t hear the o, so highlight it, and you have to remember the /pul/ sound at the end is spelt ple, so highlight that in a different colour.
3. Now look up to the left and visualise (imagine you can see) the first letter p in the air.
4. Now say p aloud.
5. Now visualise the next letter e beside it.
6. Start at the beginning and say the two letters aloud – p e.
7. Now say them backwards – e p
We do this to make sure you are visualising pe. You will find it hard to say it backwards if you are not visualising the letters.
8. Then add the next letter – the silent o that you highlighted. Pretend you are climbing through the circle it makes.
9. Now say them from the beginning, p e o, and backwards, o e p.
10. Now add another p
11. What do you have in the air now? Say p e o p and then, backwards, p o e p.
12. Now add a tall l
13. What do you have? Say p e o p l and then, backwards, l p o e p.
14. Now for the last letter. Add another e in the same colour as the first e .
15. What do you have? Say p e o p l e and then, backwards, e l p o e p.
16. Brilliant! Now write people down. Look up to where you saw it in the air if you get in a muddle.
17. Now write a short sentence using it.
18. Test yourself later in the day. If you think you have forgotten how to spell the word, look up to the left to help recall it. Then write another short sentence using the word.
19. Practise it every day for a week and keep your own spelling bank. It really works!
abacus
abandon [abandoning abandoned]
abawt about abbey abbeys abcent absent abdamen abdomen abdomen
abee abbey abel able ability abilities able abnormal abnormally abolish [abolishing abolished]
Aboriginal Aborigine about above abowt about
abracadabra
abrawd abroad abroad
abrupt abruptly abruptness absail abseil
absant absent absawb absorb
abseil [abseiling abseiled] absence
absent absent-minded abserd absurd
absorb [absorbing absorbed] absorbent absurd absurdly abuse [abusing abused] abusive abuv above abyus abuse abyusiv abusive academic academy
accelerate [accelerating accelerated] accelerator acceleration accent accept [accepting accepted] accept *[take] except *[but] acceptance access accessibility accident accidental accidentally accommodate [accommodating] accommodation accompany [accompanied] according account [accounting accounted] accountant accross across accur occur
accuracy accurate accurately accuse [accusing accused] ace acelerate accelerate Check out acc as well
acent accent acept accept ache achy [aching ached] acheive achieve achieve achievement [achieving achieved] acid acid rain
acident accident acknoledge acknowledge acknowledge acksel axel *[jump] axil *[leaf] axle *[wheel]
acksess access acne acomodate accommodate acording according acorn acownt account acre acreage acrobat acrobatic across acselerate accelerate acsent accent acsept accept acshun action acsident accident act [acting acted] actchely actually acter actor action action-packed active actively activetys activities activity activities actor actress actresses actual actually acumpany accompany acurate accurate acuse accuse acute acutely ad *[advert] add *[sum]
Adam’s apple adapt [adapting adapted] adaptable adaptation add [adding added] add *[sum] ad *[advert] addapt adapt
addaptashun adaptation
addenoyds adenoids
adder
addict addicted addiction addition *[sum] edition *[copy] additional additive addolesens adolescence
addoor adore address addresses
[addressing addressed] ade aid
adekwate adequate adenoids
adequate
ader adder
adhesive
adishun addition
adjective adjust adjustable
admier admire administrashun administration
administrate administrator administration admiral admire admiration [admiring admired]
admit [admitting admitted]
admyre admire adolescence adolescent adopt adoption adorable adore [adoring adored] adress address adult advance [advancing advanced] advantage
advencher adventure adventure adventurous adverb
advertise [advertising advertised] advertisement
advice *[a tip] advise *[suggest] advise [advising advised]
advise *[suggest] advice *[a tip] advurb adverb
advurtise advertise ael ale aer air
Check out air as well
aerial aerobic
aerodrome