Can You Spell Better Than A 5th Grader?
- by Tim Frederick
- – on
- in Mind Twisters
If you've ever watched Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?, you probably know better than to assume the answer. Many adult contestants on that show were completely outclassed in relatively basic knowledge by children a fraction of their age. However, to be fair, knowledge of random facts does tend to be fleeting, particularly if it's in an area one hasn't continued to study.
Spelling though? You probably read and/or write just about every day, so there's no reason you shouldn't be able to spell better than a 5th grader...right? Aside from that, you also have the advantage of being able to choose the answer from among a few different choices, as opposed to spelling it out from scratch. Of course, all of that means there's no excuse for failure...(I heard that gulp).
We have taken the words used in this quiz from the 2016-2017 Scripps National Spelling Bee list of 100 study words for fifth graders. Now before sweat starts trickling down your brow and your hands get all clammy, don't worry, these aren't those crazy words you see whiz kid spellers pull off at the upper levels of national competitions. However, they are relatively challenging, perhaps more so than you may be expecting, so prepare yourself. And by prepare yourself, I don't mean go find a dictionary you cheater!
Note that you will have to pay attention to the descriptions and word usage of some of the words, as more than one of the options may be a correctly spelled word. Now then, if you're ready, let's see if you can spell better than a 5th grader! Good luck.
How Do You Spell This Word?
Word Description: The plural of hoof, a word which can variously be described as either the foot of a horse or similar animal, or the covering that protects the foot. Slang terms for hoof include to walk or to dance. Word Usage: The horse's [...] were covered in whipped cream, because for some reason, the race track was also covered in whipped cream. I guess with horse racing declining in popularity, this was the inevitable result. Anyone have some strawberries?
How Do You Spell This Word?
Word Description: As a noun, this word can mean a cone-shaped implement with a small opening, which is used to efficiently guide liquids or other objects to whatever is connected to or beneath the opening. It can also mean a smokestack or a tube or shaft. As a verb, it means the act of pouring something through a small opening or of pooling something together. Word Usage: He used a [...] to pour jelly beans into his waiting mouth, spitting out the black ones because no one likes the black ones, not even people who [...] jelly beans into their mouths.
How Do You Spell This Word?
Word Description: This word is an adverb of the word grave when that word is used as an adjective to describe a situation or action that is taken in a very serious or somber fashion. It can also be used to describe a situation that is dangerous or threatening, or something that is extremely bad. Word Usage: His actions that night were [...] immoral, as he swindled men at cards, cheated on his wife, and jaywalked across a busy street.
How Do You Spell This Word?
Word Description: This word has various meanings, including the act of performing for an audience, such as by putting on a play, singing, or simply acting out in some other manner. It can also reference the capability or qualities of a person or object's actions or functions. Word Usage: The school's rendition of Hamlet ran into some difficulties when the young lead forgot his lines and tried to ad lib his way through the [...] by using lyrics from Justin Bieber songs. "Come, Hamlet, come and take this hand from me." "Show you off, tonight I wanna show you off (eh, eh, eh)."
How Do You Spell This Word?
Word Description: This word's meanings as an adjective include something very particular that is referenced or requested. This can apply to an object having a unique or narrowly defined purpose, or to the particular qualities of an object or person. As a noun it also means a particular characteristic or something that has a defined use or purpose. Word Usage: The [...] challenges he faced when it to came to carrying the TV across the room were the various obstacles in his way and the fact that he had wet noodles for arms.
How Do You Spell This Word?
Word Description: This word, which is not overly common, is used to describe a person or thing that is lacking style or neatness, or something which is old and archaic. Word Usage: The woman's appearance was incredibly [...]. Her clothes were shabby and unkempt, and of a style that hasn't been seen since the French Revolution. Her hair also appeared to have stepped out of a time machine to take up residence on her head. And don't even get me started on her [...] shoes.
How Do You Spell This Word?
Word Description: This verb is used when someone wants to point something out or to otherwise reference something or state something. It's often used in plural or past tense and in combination with other things to show how something was measured or to describe what something means. Word Usage: The young girl attempted to [...] where the monster was hiding in her room by pointing to a dark closet, but upon inspection by her parents, it appeared to be just a regular old closet. And thus, the camouflaged little alien survived another close encounter of the human kind.
How Do You Spell This Word?
Word Description: This word is often associated with contracts, in which capacity it means a certain provision or stipulation that is present in said contract. This word is also used commonly used in reference to grammar, in which case it means a group of words that have both a subject and a predicate, and can sometimes function as whole sentences. Word Usage: The player's contract had a [...] stating that so long as he didn't use a Taylor Swift song as his walk-up music, he would get a $5,000 bonus at the end of the year.
How Do You Spell This Word?
Word Description: This word is a popular one in its slangy shortened form, often being preceded by "epic". It means to prove unsuccessful at a task or for something to deteriorate or be insufficient in its health or usefulness. Word Usage: The [...] of the aircraft's engines forced the pilots to skillfully glide the plane to a safe landing, with no loss of life, though rows and rows of corn were destroyed, as they were forced to land the plane on farmland. The pilots were promptly sued by the farmer and lived out their days poor and destitute.
How Do You Spell This Word?
Word Description: We go from aircraft gliding out of the sky to this word, which is the place where aircraft are stored. It's less commonly used to mean any kind of shed or shelter. Word Usage: The [...] was filled with the smell of corn for weeks, as aircraft technicians tried in vain to detach every last stalk and kernel from every nook and cranny of the plane. After finally disposing of all the corn, the farmer sued them as well, for not returning it, and the technicians all lived out their days poor and destitute.
How Do You Spell This Word?
Word Description: This word means something that is unable to be seen. While it's typically associated with a physical object or being that is hidden or otherwise imperceptible, it can also refer to other things that are not readily apparent or able to be quantified. Word Usage: If God exists, why does He remain [...] to us? Why not just show Himself and bask in our adulation instead of playing games of needing to see our faith? I'll tell you why; because He doesn't exist! ~ This word usage brought to you by American Atheists.
How Do You Spell This Word?
Word Description: Everyone is presumed to be this word until proven guilty. Children are often considered to be this word as well, in the sense of morals or lacking of evil intent. The word can also be used to describe a thing as being devoid of something, or that there was no additional intent behind something that was said. Word Usage: She swore she was [...] of the charges, even going so far as to swear it on The Bible. She was immediately struck down by God. ~ This word usage brought to you by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
How Do You Spell This Word?
Word Description: This word refers to the bringing into existence of something, or the forging or crafting of an item or idea. It can also refer to Earth and the entire universe, as well as the act of them being brought into existence, primarily from a theistic perspective. Word Usage: The [...] of the universe, whether by natural causes or a divine being, cannot be proven one way or the other. The only reasonable option is to admit that we simply don't know. ~ This word usage brought to you by Agnostics Forever.
How Do You Spell This Word?
Word Description: This word is often used to describe ancient literature, particularly from the Greek and Roman eras, as well as musical styles such as symphonies and operas. It can also be used more broadly to denote anything that is made or has its roots in a style that closely adheres to certain ancient traditions or practices. Word Usage: He considered himself a [...] liberal, but with liberal being such a dirty word now, he decided to just refer to himself as a pedophile instead.
How Do You Spell This Word?
Word Description: The past tense of blur, this word refers to something that is fuzzy or indistinct, or the action of making something unclear. It can also refer to a person's senses being distorted or dulled. Word Usage: The lines on the ice were [...] so badly that it was impossible to determine whether a player was offside. Rather than delay the game and repaint the lines, they did away with offsides completely, leading to 23 breakaways, as forwards spent the entire game cherry picking behind the defense.
How Do You Spell This Word?
Word Description: This is a pluralized word that refers primarily to people competing in an event or other form of competition. It can also refer to people who dispute something, such as the result of an election. Word Usage: The Family Feud [...] suffered one of the worst Fast Money defeats in the show's history, scoring just 27 points. Their abysmal showing was characterized by giving the answers giraffe and bed bug when asked to name a common household pet.
How Do You Spell This Word?
Word Description: This word can refer to a few different (and conflicting) states of mind, which can make the word's usage confusing. That's somewhat appropriate considering the word can mean a state of being confused, as well as bewildered, lost in thought, or mildly tickled (as in feeling mild pleasure, not physically being tickled). Word Usage: The man was quite [...] watching the little kitten hopelessly gnaw on his finger. He was less [...] after it puked all over his hand.
How Do You Spell This Word?
Word Description: If something is more important to you than other things right now, then it's this word to you. It can also be used to signify that something has been given precedence over something else, or that someone or something is treated differently (namely better). Word Usage: Janice had always taught her daughter to make being on time a [...] in her life, which is why she turned over in her casket when her daughter showed up late to her funeral.
How Do You Spell This Word?
Word Description: If something is of a rather frail or fragile nature, it's considered to be this word. In other usages, it can mean something is of high quality, having been constructed very laboriously, or that a procedure which needs to be carried out requires very precise care. Word Usage: Dorothy was of a very [...] constitution. She came home from a walk one day with purple bruises all along her arms. "What happened to you Grandma?" her grandson cried, thinking she had fallen during her walk. "It's a little windy out" she replied.
How Do You Spell This Word?
Word Description: Performers will receive this from a crowd during a great moment or after the completion of their act, which routinely involves the audience clapping their hands. It's also commonly given during sports matches, where goals or other great plays will cause the crowd to clap and cheer. Word Usage: The crowd showered the musicians with [...] for their great concert; until a mix-up caused one of their songs to start playing again complete with vocals, exposing them as lip-syncing frauds. [...] quickly turned to boos and the stage was littered with fruit, vegetables, and selfie sticks.
How Do You Spell This Word?
Word Description: If you have a good one of these, it means you know a lot of words (though not necessarily how to spell them; we'll be the judge of that). This word can also refer to the words that make up a language as a whole, or to the unique form of language used by something else, such as a computer. Word Usage: The immigrant's limited [...] made it difficult for him to tell the woman that her hair was on fire. It wasn't long before she figured it out.
How Do You Spell This Word?
Word Description: These colorful little many-legged creatures are well-known for their ability to evolve into beautiful butterflies or moths. In their pre-evolution form, they are ravenous eaters, which is why they're viewed by some as agricultural pests. Aside from what it represents in the animal kingdom, the word also has a relatively unknown meaning, which is one who preys on others. Word Usage: The [...] hid carefully among the leaves as the farmer passed by, afraid that he would try to sue him.
How Do You Spell This Word?
Word Description: If you're looking at something with this expression, you're probably recalling a moment of happiness, or otherwise have some feelings of longing. Word Usage: He stared at the title screen [...]. He had finally found an old Pac-Man arcade machine, shelling out $15,000 for the gaming relic. It was now set up in his basement and he intended to spend the rest of the night absorbed in a spirited bout of old-school gaming. 15 minutes later he was back to playing Rocket League on his PlayStation 4.
How Do You Spell This Word?
Word Description: This word describes something that takes place each year, or is which is otherwise being judged or analyzed on a yearly basis. The word is commonly used in finance, botany, and entomology, and most holidays and many other events take place on such a yearly basis. Word Usage: The [...] "See Who Can Stare At The Sun The Longest" competition met with a typical end, as 17 people went blind, one of whom was the competition's winner. Her prize was a trophy and a pair of sunglasses.
How Do You Spell This Word?
Word Description: This rather funny word is rarely used, as what it's named for is typically only used by the hospitality industry. This device is essentially a small elevator that can be used to transport items between floors, and is most commonly found in hotels. In Britain, the word is also used for serving carts. Word Usage: Expecting the meal for table 5 to be coming up, the dumb waiter didn't even realize that what he took off the [...] was actually a bunch of dirty dishes loaded with discarded food, until he set the dishes down on the table and saw the horrified looks of table 5's occupants.
How Do You Spell This Word?
Word Description: If you can't stand something, either in a literal or figurative sense, then it's this word to you. It could apply to anything from pain, to the weather, to another person. Word Usage: Her life was [...]. She worked 50-60 hours a week, and sure the money was good, but the work wasn't exactly rewarding. Her family was [...] too, nagging her at every turn. Even her car was [...], with some new issue popping up just about every week. Yet she continued to not just bear it all, but to bare it all...for she was a stripper.
How Do You Spell This Word?
Word Description: It's pretty much a certainty that you have many of these in your house, namely in your kitchen. They are used to store things like dishes and food, and can usually be found both above and below countertops. The British also refer to small cabinets by this word. Word Usage: "Mind getting a glass from a [...] in the kitchen?" An innocent enough request, until I headed into the kitchen and saw that there were 30 of the darn things. I picked one at random and luckily enough, it was filled with glasses. I wasted $50 on lottery tickets that night, not realizing that all 30 were filled with glasses because my date was a psycho.
How Do You Spell This Word?
Word Description: This word has a number of applications. In mathematics, it can refer to a wide variety of measurements and properties. In a general sense it can also refer to the scope of something, such as a project. It's also said that space-time has four of these, one of which is time itself. Word Usage: "Is there a hidden [...] out there somewhere? If so, I hope it's filled with chocolate-breathing dragons. That would be cool. Don't look at me like that..."
How Do You Spell This Word?
Word Description: If a creature or plant is this word, then it's likely to be toxic to certain other creatures, potentially even fatally so. The word can also be applied to other things which might be harmful or dangerous, not just in the literal sense of being toxic, but in a broader sense of being dangerous or malicious. Word Usage: The new designer drug was so [...] that users died within 10 minutes of taking it. However, its hallucinogenic effects were so powerful that the user felt like they were living for a thousand years in those 10 minutes, though 1,000 years of being a complete loon.
How Do You Spell This Word?
Word Description: This word is commonly associated with pirates and shipwrecks, as it means to be stranded on an island or in a similarly dangerous situation with resources. This was often used a form of punishment by buccaneers. Word Usage: So here he was, [...] on some godforsaken island in the middle of the Pacific, with nothing but a knife and a little bit of water. But oh, it was worth it. He would suffer being [...] a thousand times to once again taste the sweet lips of the captain's buxom daughter and spend a night under the sheets trying to find where her treasure was hidden.
How Do You Spell This Word?
Word Description: These small, yappy dogs are still used by hunters in some parts of the world to frighten game out of their hiding places and into the hunter's crosshairs. The word also came to be used by the U.S military for one of their surface-to-air missiles, which was first deployed in the mid-1950's. Word Usage: The [...] walked up to the bars of the cage and surveyed the man eyeballing him. Would this be the man who would take him home? He tried to suppress his uncontrollable urge to bark, knowing it had scared off many other potential owners, but this man looked so nice, he couldn't help it. His tail wagged furiously and he started barking in excitement like he would never see this man again; which he wouldn't, because the man hurriedly moved on to check out another cage after the head-shattering barrage of yipping.
How Do You Spell This Word?
Word Description: This word encompasses a broad array of physical activities that emphasize balance, strength and agility. Among them are the vault, the balance beam, the pommel horse, and the parallel bars. The word can also be used in combination with other words, such as verbal or mental, to describe other feats of skill. Word Usage: The [...] teacher watched his latest batch of fresh recruits with horror. How could he possibly get through another year of molding such clumsy oafs into future stars? Then it came to him. He would drink. A lot.
How Do You Spell This Word?
Word Description: This word can be applied to the presence of any liquid, though it's most commonly associated with water vapor in the air. When this builds up in the air, the humidity rises. Too much of this building up in one's home, or in certain materials can lead to air quality problems or the growth of mould. There are detectors on the market which can check for this. Word Usage: [...] hung heavy in the air, as if the Earth itself was about to weep in abject sadness. It was indeed a somber day; the Montreal Canadiens had lost a game.
How Do You Spell This Word?
Word Description: If you have a lot of this word for someone, it means that you hold them in high regard. A less common usage of the word means to deem or judge the worth of something in general, not necessarily favorably. Word Usage: He thought the high level of [...] with which he held the professor could never be jeopardized; until he witnessed him in a moment of perceived solitude, a finger greedily digging into his nose. As he quickly discovered, [...] is nothing before boogers.
How Do You Spell This Word?
Word Description: Lastly, we come to this word, which means the outer boundary of an area, and/or the distance of that boundary. In military parlance, it often refers to a boundary that is fortified. Word Usage: Newly unearthed documents showed that the [...] of the farmer's land was actually much smaller than he had claimed. For years he had been farming and profiting from his neighbor's land. They sued him for all he was worth and the farmer lived out his days poor and destitute.