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9th Grade Spelling Words

These 9th grade spelling words are challenging for most adults, including teachers and parents! Use this word list to challenge your best spellers of any grade! Or you can also use them as challenge words at the end of a competitive spelling bee competition.

Your students will gain confidence in their writing when they learn to use and spell words like ubiquitous, idiosyncrasy, rococo and more.

9th Grade Spelling Words

Download our Printable 9th Grade Spelling Words.

absorption	accompaniment	accomplice
acquiesce	acquittal	affiliation
altercation	ambassador	ambiguous
animosity	apparatus	approximately
austerity	authentic	authenticate
auxiliary	benevolent	blasphemous
bravado	camouflage	capricious
carburetor	cavalcade	celestial
cerebral	chagrin	chaotic
chasm	chastise	chronic
citadel	clique	cocoon
conceivable	concurrent	conscientious
consciousness	contiguous	correspondence
corroborate	curriculum	defamation
deprivation	derelict	diffidence
disastrous	dissociate	distinction
diurnal	dominant	dormitory
drudgery	elicit	elimination
embroidery	equinox	escapade
espionage	etiquette	exaggeration
exemplary	expediency	expedient
expunge	facsimile	fallacy
feasibility	fictitious	finesse
fluorescent	fulfill	grammatically
gruesome	handkerchief	hideous
hindrance	homogenize	hypocrisy
idiosyncrasy	impasse	impropriety
incandescent	incessant	inconsolable
indelible	indispensable	indisputable
insufficient	interrogative	irreconcilable
irrelevant	irrevocable	judicious
justifiable	labyrinth	liaison
lustrous	magnanimous	magnificence
maintenance	malicious	martyr
melee	metamorphosis	molecular
monotony	morose	multiplicity
nausea	nonchalance	notoriety
oblique	occasionally	olfactory
omnipotent	onomatopoeia	palatable
pandemonium	panorama	partiality
pastime	patriarch	pediatrician
peril	perjury	philanthropist
picturesque	pittance	playwright
poignancy	poignant	potpourri
prejudice	premonition	primitive
proximity	quibble	quixotic
quizzical	recipient	redundant
reek	relevancy	remembrance
renegade	renovate	reservoir
respite	retaliate	retrieve
rococo	sabotage	salient
satisfactorily	saunter	scavenger
scourge	scuttle	seethe
significance	soliloquy	spasmodic
squalid	strenuous	stringent
subsequent	subsistence	succinct
summarize	supersede	surgeon
surveillance	swelter	synthesis
tantalize	technician	technique
tedious	tenuous	tirade
transcend	transient	transmutation
tremor	turbulence	ubiquitous
ulterior	unanimous	uncanny
uncouth	undoubtedly	unforgettable
upbraid	variegated	vengeance
versatile	volatile	vulnerable
vying	wary

Please note that this is a general list to supplement other curriculum. The needs of your students may vary.

Studying for a 9th Grade Spelling Bee

Are you a 9th grader who is gearing up for an important spelling bee? Preparing for a 9th grade spelling bee doesn't have to be a daunting task. With a few simple strategies, you make sure you're ready to take on the competition!

What to Expect

Be prepared to spell words that cover a wide range of difficulty
Be sure you understand the rules of the spelling bee
Be positive and stay focused, even if you feel a bit nervous

Tips for Studying for the 9th Grade Spelling Bee

1. Break Down the Words

Break down words into root words, suffixes, and prefixes
Analyze unfamiliar words to figure out their meaning
Practice using words in sentences

2. Use Online Resources

Utilize online dictionaries to look up definitions. (It's also a good idea to study the giant hard copy versions of the dictionary, too!)
Practice spelling words with online quizzes
Make use of online study guides

3. Make Flashcards

Make flashcards of the most difficult words
Have a friend or family member test you on your flashcards
Practice saying and writing the words from your flashcards

4. Practice, Practice, Practice

Set aside time each day to practice spelling.
Remember that "practice makes perfect."
Listen to audio recordings of words to practice pronunciations
Ask an adult for help on practicing difficult words

5. What to Do During the Competition

Eat a good breakfast. Be sure to get some protein such as eggs, nuts, or a protein bar
Try to stay calm and focused on spelling correctly. Put into practice all the things you've been learning
Take deep breaths and tell yourself that you CAN do it!

More 9th Grade Spelling Resources

Hard word search puzzle - 9th grade worksheets

Teaching Tips and Tricks

Use our list of 9th grade spelling words for classroom quizzes and competitions, games and worksheets. We have free spelling lessons that can help you learn or teach some of these tricky words.

Your 9th graders may also want to brush up on this list of 8th grade spelling words. There are plenty of tough ones on this list, too!

For even more practice, try these three tough 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.

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