8th Grade  Vocabulary Words

This challenging list of 8th grade vocabulary words is great for teachers, parents and students to use throughout the entire school year. Of this mammoth list of 250 words, how many do you think your child or your students already know? Why not test your theory with a simple pre-test? Take a random sampling and ask kids to informally define about 30 of the words (or use them correctly in a sentence). That will give you an initial impression.

If students already seem to know a lot of the words, that's great! They can start incorporating them into their writing immediately, and begin to work on correct spellings. If students do not know a lot of the words, then begin to teach them word meanings, at the rate of about 10 a week. See ideas below for how to do this. Don't miss this challenging new crossword with hard vocabulary and spelling words!

I've compiled this word list from many popular texts and online resources. Let's keep working together to challenge students to achieve more, and with more confidence!

8th Grade Vocabulary Words

Printable list of 250 8th Grade Vocabulary Words

Don't forget to get your printable list of these 8th grade vocabulary words. Here is a look at all three of the printable pages:

Teacher's Tips: 

Eighth graders are capable of learning A LOT of new vocabulary words, BUT no one wants to learn 2500 words all at once! Words are best learned in context, through insightful discussions and the reading of materials that are of interest to students.

Keep an eye out for even more new vocabulary words in 7th grade social studies, science and math textbooks, as well as literature readings.

• When possible, introduce new words naturally in discussions and in reading materials
• Introduce no more than 15-20 new vocab words at a time to seventh graders
• See my "How To" guide below for more ways to use these words

How to Use These Vocabulary Words:

Choose from these extension activities to give your students extra practice with the 8th grade vocabulary words. Add more activities of your own. Check my answers under the blue button at the bottom of the page. 

1. Find three vocabulary words that refer to specific kinds of words or phrases. 

2. Find at least seven words that name a type of person or people. 

3. Explain the difference between omniscient and prescient. 

4. Identify three or more words that could sensibly complete this sentence:  The actor tore up his script, stormed off the set, and said with great __________,  "I have no intention of working with you anymore!" 

5. Find your favorite  8-, 9-, and 10-letter words on the list.

6. Write a sentence or two about some of these topics:

• If the washing machine suddenly went kaput, and you were home alone with tons of dirty laundry, what would you do?
• What's the most implausible reason you've heard someone use for not completing their homework?
• Tell how a felicitous comment can make someone's day. 
• What's the most loathsome thing you've ever tried to eat?

7. Work with a student partner or a family member to write a 2-page story using one of these titles:

• My Journey to a Ziggurat
• The Most Harebrained Idea Yet to Make Money Fast
• My Rebuttal to the Mayor's Speech
• A Brief Oration on Ruminants

More Eighth Grade Spelling and Vocabulary Resources

Find my printable list of 250 words that 8th graders should know how to spell and use correctly, as well as lots of 8th grade spelling resources. There are plenty of challenging words here!  

Here's an informative list of tips for developing 8th grade vocabulary and spelling skills. Ideas are listed for both home and classroom use.

Writing Prompts

NEW! Expository Writing Prompts - New engaging expository prompts to help students reason, explain and make lists. These prompts also provide practice with some challenging 8th grade spelling words.

Writing Prompts for Middle School - Set #1 What is the best strategy for teaching your younger sibling to stay out of your bedroom? What would you miss most if you had no electricity for a week? You'll find ten more prompts on this fun printable page.

Worksheets, Brain Teasers & Puzzles

Fun Brain Teasers for Students  These fun brain teasers will check your students' spelling and vocabulary skills. They’ll also tickle their funny bones! 

An Impossible Brain Teaser? - Sure, the directions are tricky, but adults and upper grade students can solve this the first time, right?

Opposites Unscramble 16 words, then match each on up to an opposite that's also in the list. Fun two-part activity for extra vocab practice!  When you've finished the opposites, be sure to try...

Pull-Apart Synonyms - Extremely challenging free word scramble game! Can you pull apart these letters, without rearranging them, to spell a pair of synonyms? Is this as easy as it sounds???

Spelling Bee Challenge - In this unique fill-in crossword, you'll need to place 32 difficult spelling bee words. How many of these words can you spell and/or define?

Muddled Music Crossword - Sharpen your focus to solve this one! Replace one or two letters in each clue to spell a musical term. 

All Vocabulary Lists

Kindergarten Vocabulary Words - 175 engaging, empowering vocabulary words, in alphabetical order, that every kindergartner should be learning. Use our convenient printable page. A second list features 100 of the words in helpful categories such as shapes, feelings, community helpers and more. 

First Grade Vocabulary Words - 175 great vocab words on a variety of topics for 1st grade students to learn to use in conversation, along with suggested activities. 100 words appear in meaningful categories including sports, animals, compound words and more. 

Second Grade Vocabulary Words : 200 words for 2nd grade students to learn and enjoy! 100 of the words are arranged in helpful categories and are arranged on an engaging printable for your students. Challenge your second graders with more words to use in their speaking and written vocabularies.

3rd Grade Vocabulary Words - 200 words to boost your child's spoken and written language skills, arranged alphabetically!  Print the complete list from the web page for best results. 100 of the words also appear in an engaging printable, arranged by helpful topics. 

4th Grade Vocabulary Words - 200 4th grade vocab words to keep your students on track all year long! Half of the words are also arranged in meaningful categories to help students with word meaning. 

5th Grade Vocabulary Words - Boost your fifth graders' spoken and written vocabularies with this BIG list of 200 words, arranged in alphabetical order. I've also selected 100 of these words to put into 10 engaging topics. Try the extension activities for best results!

6th Grade Vocabulary Words - Improve your students' understanding of LOTS of areas of learning by covering these 200 important words! I've included many ways to put these words into use, and I have links to other related pages, too!

7th Grade Vocabulary Words - Here are 240 challenging words to stretch your upper grade students this year! Follow all the tips and extra activities listed to get the most out of this mega list of vocabulary words!

NEW! 8th Grade Vocabulary Words - Stretch your own vocabulary as well as your students' with this challenging list of 250 words! Lots of extension activities are also included. 

These are lists of spelling words that you may wish to explore with your student. 

• 7th grade spelling words
• 8th grade spelling words
• 9th grade spelling words
• 102 frequently misspelled words
• Spelling bee word lists

Ann Richmond Fisher is a longtime published educational writer, a former classroom teacher and a former homeschool teacher. Ann's spelling bee resources, graded spelling word lists, spelling games, worksheets, and other language arts resources have become respected around the globe since she launched Spelling-Words-Well in 2010.

Ann is also the creator of www.word-game-world.com.

Spelling Bee Toolboxes for Grades 3/5 and  6/8    All the resources you need for a successful bee!

Visit my YouTube Channel for fun spelling practice videos!

AnyWord Spelling Practice Series   Fun Worksheets, games & prompts that work with almost ANY spelling words!

Crossword Puzzles for Kids eBook: 20 new puzzles for grades 3-5.  Most clues written for differentiation. Learn more!

Sixth Grade Word Lists & Activities: 240 Superb words and lots of learning activities! No printer needed. Also available for fifth grade.  Learn more>>