7th grade spelling words
A 7th grade spelling list is built on Latin and Greek roots (cred, spir, gen, fac), the prefixes that change their spelling, and the suffix choices that trip up writers, like -able or -ible and -cial or -tial.
Free printable PDF, 7th grade.
One page, black and white, prints the same every time.
What is on the sheet
The table below is the sheet as it prints with these options: By week.
| Week | Words |
|---|---|
| 1 | credit, credible, creed, creditor, discredit, credential, credence, credulous, incredulous, credibility, accredit, creditable, incredibly, accreditation, incredulity |
| 2 | convene, convention, conventional, prevent, preventable, intervene, avenue, venue, souvenir, eventual, revenue, credit, credential, intervention, inconvenience |
| 3 | inspire, inspiration, expire, expiration, respiratory, aspire, aspiration, conspire, conspiracy, perspire, spirited, convene, intervene, perspiration, transpiration |
| 4 | reflect, reflection, reflective, reflex, reflexive, deflect, deflection, inflect, inflection, flexibility, inflexible, inspire, aspire, inflexibility, circumflex |
| 5 | demographer, democratic, demographic, demography, epidemic, pandemic, endemic, demagogue, undemocratic, democratize, democratically, reflect, deflect, epidemiologist, demagoguery |
| 6 | genetic, genetics, generate, generation, generator, genesis, genealogy, oxygen, progeny, ingenious, indigenous, democratic, pandemic, homogeneous, heterogeneous |
| 7 | obtain, retain, sustain, detain, attain, abstain, pertain, entertain, tenant, retention, detention, genetic, genesis, sustenance, tenacity |
| 8 | circumvent, circumnavigate, circumspect, circumscribe, circumpolar, contrary, contrast, contraband, contravene, controversy, contradictory, obtain, abstain, circumnavigation, incontrovertible |
| 9 | malfunction, malnourished, malicious, malady, malevolent, malware, benefactor, benevolent, benediction, beneficiary, benign, circumvent, contrary, malediction, beneficence |
| 10 | analyze, paralyze, catalyze, criticize, emphasize, sympathize, summarize, prioritize, characterize, jeopardize, recognize, malfunction, malware, hypothesize, crystallize |
| 11 | peaceable, serviceable, replaceable, enforceable, traceable, salvageable, exchangeable, pronounceable, chargeable, unmanageable, unnoticeable, analyze, sympathize, unpronounceable, unserviceable |
| 12 | plausible, feasible, tangible, compatible, susceptible, permissible, gullible, intelligible, deductible, forcible, perceptible, peaceable, salvageable, incorrigible, incomprehensible |
| 13 | crucial, commercial, glacial, provincial, superficial, partial, initial, residential, confidential, substantial, spatial, plausible, permissible, consequential, preferential |
| 14 | precious, suspicious, ferocious, spacious, vicious, atrocious, ambitious, cautious, nutritious, fictitious, infectious, crucial, partial, superstitious, ostentatious |
| 15 | mnemonic, subtle, indict, sovereign, rhetoric, yacht, colonel, psalm, gnarled, pneumatic, hymn, precious, atrocious, subpoena, mortgage |
| 16 | sentiment, sentimental, consent, resent, resentment, dissent, sensation, sensory, sensitive, sensitivity, consensus, mnemonic, yacht, sentient, extrasensory |
| 17 | motive, motivate, motivation, promote, promotion, emotion, emotional, demote, locomotive, remote, immovable, sentiment, dissent, locomotion, automotive |
| 18 | pendulum, pending, pendant, suspend, suspension, appendix, impending, append, compensate, pension, expenditure, motive, emotion, indispensable, compendium |
| 19 | manufacture, facilitate, faculty, factual, factor, defect, defective, infection, affection, affectionate, perfection, pendulum, appendix, facsimile, artifact |
| 20 | monarch, monarchy, anarchy, patriarch, matriarch, archaic, archive, aristocracy, autocracy, theocracy, meritocracy, manufacture, defect, archipelago, oligarchy |
| 21 | accumulate, affiliate, aggravate, allocate, assimilate, attribute, accelerate, affirmative, annotate, arrogant, assemble, monarch, archaic, annihilate, aggregate |
| 22 | collaborate, colleague, collapse, collateral, collective, correlate, corrode, correlation, cooperate, coexist, corrugated, accumulate, attribute, collaboration, corroborate |
| 23 | polygon, polyester, polymer, polygraph, polynomial, monopoly, monotone, monotonous, monorail, monogram, monochrome, collaborate, correlate, polysyllabic, monosyllabic |
| 24 | acknowledgment, abridgment, requirement, embarrassment, measurement, arrangement, commitment, engagement, encouragement, replacement, enlargement, polygon, monopoly, disillusionment, reimbursement |
| 25 | basically, dramatically, frantically, specifically, historically, practically, incidentally, logically, critically, tragically, automatically, acknowledgment, arrangement, enthusiastically, publicly |
| 26 | transferred, compelled, deterred, omitted, patrolled, excelled, rebelled, forbidden, conferred, expelled, deferred, basically, practically, benefited, deterrent |
| 27 | chaos, chorus, chemistry, orchestra, architecture, mechanism, scheme, technical, epoch, chasm, orchid, transferred, excelled, chameleon, charisma |
| 28 | phenomenon, pharmacy, emphasis, catastrophe, apostrophe, sophomore, hemisphere, pamphlet, triumph, phase, prophet, chaos, mechanism, phenomena, diphthong |
| 29 | adapt, adopt, allusion, illusion, eminent, imminent, ensure, insure, farther, further, censor, phenomenon, sophomore, censure, immigrate |
| 30 | cytoplasm, membrane, nucleus, bacteria, microorganism, heredity, genotype, adaptation, vertebrate, invertebrate, organelle, adapt, imminent, mitochondria, prokaryotic |
| 31 | civilization, dynasty, feudalism, pilgrimage, migration, colonial, merchant, peasant, emperor, territory, aqueduct, cytoplasm, heredity, mercantilism, hieroglyphics |
| 32 | probability, proportion, expression, inequality, rational, distributive, supplementary, complementary, perpendicular, isosceles, scalene, civilization, colonial, commutative, reciprocal |
| 33 | current, currency, cursor, cursive, excursion, incur, recur, recurring, concurrent, precursor, curriculum, probability, distributive, recurrence, cursory |
| 34 | grateful, gratify, gratifying, congratulate, gratuity, ingratitude, grace, disgrace, disgraceful, ungrateful, graciously, current, incur, gratification, congratulatory |
| 35 | pastime, pursue, truly, dilemma, tendency, resistance, hypocrisy, medieval, threshold, fulfill, apparently, grateful, ingratitude, minuscule, exhilarate |
| 36 | acquiesce, camaraderie, chauffeur, dachshund, potpourri, fuchsia, hemorrhage, mayonnaise, plagiarism, rendezvous, reminiscence, pastime, resistance, sacrilegious, bourgeois |
How the year is built
Most weeks are one root family. Cred gives credible, credential and incredulous. Spir gives inspire, aspire and perspiration. Other weeks are prefixes that hide inside a word: ad- becomes ac- in accumulate and com- becomes col- in collaborate, which is why those words have a double letter. The suffix weeks cover the endings a 7th grader has to pick between: peaceable against plausible, crucial against partial, precious against cautious.
A few weeks do something else. One is silent letters in borrowed words (yacht, colonel, psalm), one is commonly confused pairs (adapt and adopt, allusion and illusion), and three are the words of life science, world history and math. Every week repeats two words from the week before. Week 36 is a challenge list: camaraderie, rendezvous, reminiscence.
Using the list
A 7th grader can run the week on their own. Read the list, underline the root in each word, look up the two least familiar, and self-test midweek. Friday is a dictation from a parent or a partner. Any word missed twice goes on the child's own list at the back of the notebook. The weekly worksheet prints one week with room to practice; this page is the whole year.
Common questions
- Is spelling still taught in 7th grade?
- Yes, though it is usually called word study. The standard asks 7th graders to spell correctly in their writing and to use Greek and Latin roots to work out what a word means. Root lists serve both.
- Why are some words repeated?
- Two words from each week come back the next week as review. The alphabetical version lists every word once.