Untitled Document

rabbet
rambouillet
ratatouille
raucous
reconnaissance
relevant
rendezvous
repechage
rescissory
resuscitate
revetment
rhetorician
riflery
riposte
rodenticide
rotisserie
rutabaga

raconteur
rappel
rathskeller
recherche
regalia
reliquiae
renowned
requiem
resilience
retrorse
rhabdomancy
rhumb
rijsttafel
risotto
roebuck
roux

ragout
rapprochement
ratiocination
recidivist
reggae
renaissance
reparable
reredos
ressentiment
reveille
rhadamanthine
riant
rillettes
riveting
rosaceous
rumbustious

sabbatical
sadomasochism
saltimbocca
sanguineous
sarsaparilla
satyagraha
scaphoid
sciatica
scrimshander
sedulous
selenology
sepia
serviceable
seviche
shibboleth
silhouette
skein
soliloquy
specie
sporran
staphylococcus
stertorous
stupefy
suborn
succor
superannuate
surimi
swarf

saccharine
salaam
salutatorian
sapphic
sashay
sauerbraten
schadenfreude
scintilla
scurrility
segno
sempiternal
septuagenarian
sesquipedalian
shenanigan
shirr
simian
skosh
somnambulism
spelunker
squamous
statusy
striation
styptic
subpoena
suffragette
supersede
surveillance
sycophant

sacroiliac
salchow
sanitorium
sapphire
satiety
scabrous
schismatic
scorbutic
scythe
segue
senescence
seraglio
settee
sherbet
sibyl
sinology
soiree
spaghettini
spoliation
staccato
statutory
strychnine
submersible
succinct
sukiyaki
surfeit
svelte
synchroneity

tableau
tambourine
tercentenary
thaumaturge
tintinnabulation
toboggan
tragedienne
trichinosis
tuille

tachyarrhythmia
tatterdemalion
tessellation
tilde
tiramisu
tonsillitis
transience
trichotillomania
turnverein

talisman
tautology
tetrazzini
tinnitus
tmesis
tracheotomy
trebuchet
trochee
tyrannosaur

U-V

ufology
ululant
unconscionable
unguent
upheaval
uxorious
valetudinarian
varietal
veloce
verisimilitude
vertiginous
vichyssoise
viscount
volkslied

uglify
umbel
unctuous
unputdownable
uraeus
vacuum
varicose
variorum
ventriloquism
vermicelli
vexillology
vicissitude
vitiate
voracious

ukase
unbeseeming
ungual
upbraid
usurious
vagal
variegate
vatic
verbicide
vertebra
vibrissa
vinaceous
vivacity
vouchsafe

W-Z

wainscot
warrener
weanling
whatchamacallit
woebegone
wunderkind
xylophone
yeomanry
zabaglione
zinfandel
zombiism
zucchetto

wallah
wasabi
weltanschauung
whirligig
worshipful
xenophobia
yakitori
yestreen
zapateado
ziti
zoophilic
zucchini

walloping
wassail
werewolf
wienerwurst
wraith
xeriscape
yarmulke
yurt
ziggurat
zoisite
zori
zydeco

Conclusion

I made this list without consulting any other lists. I just read slowly through the 11th edition of the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary and asked myself which of these words are hard to spell, or interesting to know or arresting in some way. Some of them, admittedly, are obscure, but fewer than you may think. And then, as I tell my students, you don't always know ahead of time what you will need to know or what will be profitable to know as life goes on. Maybe I will have time to make a list about twice this long with what I consider to be the "really hard" words in the Merriam-Webster. That list will have more pharmaceutical terms (thiouracil, for example) and more names of species (onychophoran, for example), as well as some more difficult words that I deliberately omitted here (such as usufructuary). Stay tuned for that. In the mean time, this list ought to keep you going for at least a few months!

2180