8th grade spelling words
An 8th grade spelling list closes out middle school with Latin and Greek roots like cess, loqu, path and vert, the -ant or -ent and -ancy or -ency choices, and the words that break i before e.
Free printable PDF, 8th 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 | process, procession, access, accessory, excess, excessive, recess, recession, concession, predecessor, antecedent, secession, precedent, cessation, incessant |
| 2 | command, commandment, demand, demanding, mandate, mandatory, commend, commendable, reprimand, amend, countermand, process, excessive, recommendation, commendation |
| 3 | amble, ambulatory, preamble, ambition, ambiguous, ambiguity, ambivalent, ambivalence, ambidextrous, ambient, unambiguous, command, mandatory, somnambulist, perambulate |
| 4 | eloquent, eloquence, eloquently, loquacious, soliloquy, colloquial, ventriloquist, elocution, circumlocution, interlocutor, colloquialism, amble, ambiguity, grandiloquent, ventriloquism |
| 5 | sympathy, sympathetic, empathy, empathetic, apathy, apathetic, pathetic, antipathy, pathogen, pathology, pathos, eloquent, colloquial, pathological, empathize |
| 6 | astronomy, astronaut, asterisk, asteroid, disaster, disastrous, astronomical, astrophysics, astronomer, aster, astral, sympathy, apathetic, astrophysicist, astronautics |
| 7 | inquire, inquiry, inquisitive, conquest, conquer, exquisite, requisite, prerequisite, query, request, acquisition, astronomy, disastrous, requisition, inquisition |
| 8 | jury, juror, jurisdiction, justice, justify, justifiable, prejudice, injury, perjury, judicious, injustice, inquire, exquisite, adjudicate, jurisprudence |
| 9 | corpse, corps, corporal, corporate, corporation, incorporate, carnival, carnivore, carnivorous, carnation, incarnate, jury, justifiable, corporeal, corpuscle |
| 10 | synonym, synonymous, homonym, heteronym, pseudonym, anonymous, anonymously, anonymity, acronym, eponym, patronymic, corpse, incorporate, pseudonymous, eponymous |
| 11 | philosophy, philosopher, philanthropy, philanthropist, philharmonic, bibliophile, phobia, phobic, claustrophobia, arachnophobia, acrophobia, synonym, anonymous, philatelist, xenophobia |
| 12 | significant, dominant, reluctant, extravagant, vigilant, hesitant, persistent, consistent, prominent, competent, adolescent, philosophy, bibliophile, belligerent, omnipresent |
| 13 | vacancy, urgency, frequency, emergency, buoyancy, redundancy, consistency, dependency, proficiency, efficiency, discrepancy, significant, hesitant, complacency, transparency |
| 14 | desirable, excusable, usable, lovable, believable, debatable, excitable, imaginable, forgivable, measurable, adorable, vacancy, redundancy, inexcusable, unimaginable |
| 15 | outrageous, advantageous, gorgeous, righteous, instantaneous, simultaneous, extraneous, erroneous, hideous, gaseous, piteous, desirable, debatable, disadvantageous, contemporaneous |
| 16 | signal, signature, resignation, muscular, condemn, condemnation, malign, malignant, solemnity, bombard, autumnal, outrageous, simultaneous, columnar, signatory |
| 17 | competition, repetition, opposition, preparation, invitation, admiration, declaration, relative, grammatical, comparison, restoration, signal, condemnation, hypocritical, originality |
| 18 | gravity, gravitate, gravitation, gravitational, grievance, levity, elevate, elevation, alleviate, levitate, leverage, competition, admiration, aggrieved, levitation |
| 19 | sequence, sequel, subsequent, subsequently, consecutive, consequently, execute, executive, prosecute, persecute, prosecution, gravity, levity, obsequious, inconsequential |
| 20 | divert, revert, invert, vertical, versatile, adversary, adversity, diversity, anniversary, introvert, extrovert, sequence, consequently, inadvertent, irreversible |
| 21 | distort, distortion, contort, contortion, retort, extort, extortion, torture, torment, tormentor, torque, divert, adversary, tortuous, contortionist |
| 22 | precise, precision, incision, incisor, concise, concisely, decisive, indecisive, incisive, excise, pesticide, distort, extort, herbicide, imprecision |
| 23 | synthesis, synthetic, syndrome, symptom, symmetry, symmetrical, symposium, syllable, syllabus, synergy, synopsis, precise, concisely, asymmetrical, synchronous |
| 24 | oblivious, obscure, obsolete, obstinate, obnoxious, oppress, oppression, opponent, offend, occupy, occupation, synthesis, symmetrical, obliterate, obfuscate |
| 25 | suffocate, suggest, suggestion, suppress, suppression, succumb, summon, supplement, suffice, succinct, suffix, oblivious, oppress, surreptitious, supposition |
| 26 | beggar, scholar, vinegar, peculiar, regular, circular, cellular, molecular, singular, nuclear, similar, suffocate, succumb, vernacular, triangular |
| 27 | advertise, compromise, despise, enterprise, exercise, improvise, merchandise, televise, franchise, chastise, comprise, beggar, circular, disenfranchise, reprise |
| 28 | weird, caffeine, forfeit, seizure, feisty, heifer, ancient, species, glacier, efficient, deficiency, advertise, improvise, surfeit, omniscient |
| 29 | allude, elude, averse, adverse, prophecy, prophesy, envelop, envelope, loath, loathe, ingenuous, weird, heifer, apprise, appraise |
| 30 | acceleration, velocity, momentum, friction, kinetic, inertia, amplitude, wavelength, catalyst, isotope, neutron, allude, prophesy, equilibrium, electromagnetic |
| 31 | abolition, abolitionist, ratify, ratification, tariff, suffrage, segregation, sharecropper, frontier, legislative, unconstitutional, acceleration, inertia, industrialization, nullification |
| 32 | exponential, hypotenuse, irrational, congruent, dilation, intercept, coordinate, linear, nonlinear, rotation, cylinder, abolition, suffrage, bivariate, tessellation |
| 33 | protagonist, antagonist, foreshadowing, metaphor, simile, personification, alliteration, hyperbole, connotation, epilogue, satire, exponential, intercept, juxtaposition, caricature |
| 34 | novice, novelty, innovate, innovation, renovate, renovation, innate, native, nationality, prenatal, neonatal, protagonist, personification, supernova, innovative |
| 35 | inoculate, playwright, gauge, tyranny, broccoli, pavilion, secretary, sheriff, siege, withhold, occasionally, novice, renovation, restaurateur, handkerchief |
| 36 | chrysanthemum, reconnaissance, rhododendron, pterodactyl, entrepreneurial, onomatopoeic, maneuverability, conscientiousness, paraphernalia, liquefy, idiosyncratic, inoculate, pavilion, dilettante, vicissitude |
How the year is built
Most weeks are one root family, and the roots are harder than 7th grade's. Loqu gives eloquent, colloquial and soliloquy. Path gives empathy, apathy and pathology. Nym gives synonym, pseudonym and anonymous. Other weeks are prefixes in disguise, ob- turning into op- in oppress and sub- into suf- in suffocate, and spelling choices that no rule settles: significant or consistent, vacancy or urgency, gorgeous and simultaneous.
A handful of weeks explain spellings. A silent letter speaks in a related word: condemn and condemnation, malign and malignant. Weird, seizure and forfeit break i before e. Commonly confused pairs (allude and elude, adverse and averse) get a week, and physical science, US history, math and literature get one each. Every week repeats two words from the week before, and week 36 is a challenge list: reconnaissance, chrysanthemum, idiosyncratic.
Using the list
An 8th grader can run the week alone. Read the list, mark the root or the tricky ending in each word, write a sentence for the three least familiar, and self-test midweek. Friday is a dictation. Words missed twice go on the child's own list, and those are the ones worth a second week. The weekly worksheet prints one week with room to practice; this page is the whole year.
Common questions
- Is spelling still taught in 8th grade?
- Yes, as word study. The standard asks 8th 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.
- What if the 8th grade list is too hard?
- Start on the 7th grade list, which uses the same kind of weeks with easier roots. The commonly misspelled words list is a good second stop, since those words turn up in every grade's writing.