Commonly misspelled English words

Commonly misspelled English words[1] (UK: misspelt words) are words that are often unintentionally misspelled in general writing.

A selected list of common words is presented below, under Documented list of common misspellings. Although the word common is subjective depending on the situation, the focus is on general writing, rather than in a specific field. Accepted spellings also vary by country or region, with some rejecting the American or British variants as incorrect for the region.[1][2][3]

Within a particular field of study, such as computer graphics, other words might be more common for misspelling, such as "pixel" misspelled as "pixle" (or variants "cesium" and "caesium"). Sometimes words are purposely misspelled, as a form in slang, abbreviations, or in song lyrics, etc.

In general writing, some words are frequently misspelled, such as the incorrect spelling "concensus"[4] for "consensus"[5] found in numerous webpages.[4] Other common misspellings include "equiptment" (for "equipment"),[4][6] "independant" (for "independent"),[4][7] "readible" (for readable),[3][8] or "usible" (for usable or useable).[3][4][9][10]

  1. ^ a b "Common misspellings". Oxford University Press. 2009. Archived from the original on January 8, 2020. Retrieved 2021-02-17.
  2. ^ "Canadian, British and American Spelling". LukeMastin.com. December 2008.
  3. ^ a b c "Canadian, British and American Spelling – Some Commonly Misspelled Words". LukeMastin.com. December 2008.
  4. ^ a b c d e "50 Commonly Misspelled Words That Make You Look Less Smart". Writer's Hive Media. 10 May 2023. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
  5. ^ "Merriam-Webster Online (results for misspelling as "concensus")". Merriam-Webster. 2008.
  6. ^ "Merriam-Webster Online (results for misspelling as "equiptment")". Merriam-Webster. December 2008.
  7. ^ "Merriam-Webster Online (results for misspelling as "independant")". Merriam-Webster. December 2008.
  8. ^ "Merriam-Webster Online (results for misspelling as "readible")". Merriam-Webster. December 2008.
  9. ^ "Merriam-Webster Online (results for misspelling as "usible")". Merriam-Webster. December 2008.
  10. ^ Nordquist, Richard (4 November 2019). "The 201 Most Commonly Misspelled Words in English". About.com. Retrieved 17 February 2021.