Scripps National Spelling Bee 8Th Grade Words

Front 1

marvelous or marvellous

Back 1

notably superior : excellent.

Front 2

vulpine

Back 2

marked by slyness or predatoriness : crafty.

Front 3

catastrophic

Back 3

of, relating to, resembling or resulting in disaster.

Front 4

quandary

Back 4

a state of perplexity or doubt : dilemma.

Front 5

Honolulu

Back 5

the most populous city, port and capital of Hawaii.

Front 6

uranium

Back 6

a silvery, heavy radioactive metallic element that is used primarily in atomic energy programs.

Front 7

collision

Back 7

the action or an instance of two or more things striking forcefully together typically by accident.

Front 8

alpinist

Back 8

a mountain climber specializing in high difficult climbs.

Front 9

mahogany

Back 9

the durable yellowish brown to reddish brown wood of a West Indian tree that is widely used for cabinetwork and fine finish work.

Front 10

neutron

Back 10

an elementary particle that has no electrical charge and that has a mass nearly equal to that of the proton.

Front 11

insulin

Back 11

a protein pancreatic hormone that is essential especially for the metabolism of carbohydrates and which is used in the treatment and control of diabetes.

Front 12

allegiance

Back 12

devotion or loyalty especially to a person, group or cause.

Front 13

Dantean

Back 13

of, relating to or characteristic of the Italian poet Dante or his writings.

Front 14

perpetrator

Back 14

one that commits an offense or crime

Front 15

avalanche

Back 15

a large mass of snow, ice, dirt, rock or other material sliding swiftly down a mountainside.

Front 16

bedlam

Back 16

a place or scene of wild mad uproar

Front 17

Mylar

Back 17

—used for a polyester film.

Front 18

exquisite

Back 18

marked by flawless craftsmanship or by beautiful, delicate or elaborate execution.

Front 19

assailant

Back 19

one who attacks with violence.

Front 20

functionary

Back 20

one holding a paid position or office in a government or party : civil servant.

Front 21

inadvertent

Back 21

unintentional.

Front 22

Mandarin

Back 22

The main dialect of Chinese spoken in China.

Front 23

physicists

Back 23

specialists in the science of matter and energy and their interactions.

Front 24

Einstein

Back 24

a mathematical genius.

Front 25

tremulous

Back 25

quivering: shaking.

Front 26

aperture

Back 26

the opening in a photographic lens that admits the light passing through.

Front 27

prodigious

Back 27

enormous, immense.

Front 28

Stilton

Back 28

a blue-veined cheese with wrinkled rind made of whole cows' milk enriched with cream and usually aged two years.

Front 29

unscrupulous

Back 29

lacking or exhibiting a lack of moral principles.

Front 30

concussion

Back 30

a jarring injury of the brain resulting in disturbance of cerebral function and sometimes marked by permanent damage.

Front 31

legitimately

Back 31

according to law or rules.

Front 32

vagabonds

Back 32

individuals who wander about from place to place.

Front 33

affectionately

Back 33

in a loving or fond manner.

Front 34

habanero

Back 34

a very hot roundish chili pepper that is usually orange when mature.

Front 35

overweening

Back 35

excessive, exaggerated, unrestrained.

Front 36

vengeance

Back 36

infliction of punishment in return for an injury or offense.

Front 37

gladiatorial

Back 37

of, relating to or suggestive of persons in ancient Rome who fought against other people or wild animals for the entertainment of the public.

Front 38

semaphore

Back 38

a system of visual signaling (as between ships) in which the sender holds a flag in each hand and moves his or her arms to different positions according to a code alphabet.

Front 39

inconceivable

Back 39

falling outside the limit of what can be comprehended, accepted as true or tolerated.

Front 40

pilgrimages

Back 40

trips taken to visit a place of historic or sentimental interest or to participate in a specific event or for a definite purpose.

Front 41

Holocaust

Back 41

the mass slaughter of European civilians and especially Jews by the Nazis during World War II.

Front 42

nuisance

Back 42

something that is disagreeable or troublesome : an annoyance.

Front 43

enervating

Back 43

lessening the nerve, vitality or strength of.

Front 44

sanctum sanctorum

Back 44

a study, office or place of retreat where one is free from intrusion.

Front 45

undulating

Back 45

rising and falling in waves : fluctuating.

Front 46

Jacobean

Back 46

of or relating to James I of England, his reign or his times.

Front 47

hypotenuse

Back 47

the side of a right-angled triangle that is opposite the right angle.

Front 48

machete

Back 48

a large, heavy knife usually made with a blade often two or three feet in length.

Front 49

silhouetted

Back 49

projected upon a background like an outline of a person or thing.

Front 50

conflagration

Back 50

a large disastrous fire involving many buildings.

Front 51

churlish

Back 51

rude.

Front 52

mandrill

Back 52

a large, fierce baboon of western Africa with the male having blue ridges on each side of the red-bridged nose.

Front 53

ascetic

Back 53

self-denying : austere.

Front 54

pugnacious

Back 54

having an assertive, hostile or combative nature : aggressive.

Front 55

gesticulations

Back 55

expressive motions of the body or limbs.

Front 56

interminableness

Back 56

the state or quality of having no end or being drawn out to the point of boredom.

Front 57

potentialities

Back 57

things that have a possibility for changing or developing into a state of reality.

Front 58

decrepitude

Back 58

a state of decay or ruin.

Front 59

promulgate

Back 59

to make widely known through speech or writing : announce.

Front 60

constabulary

Back 60

a body of police officers (as of a particular town, district, country).

Front 61

recusant

Back 61

refusing to submit to authority.

Front 62

Patagonia

Back 62

a region of South America in southern Argentina and southern Chile that is a barren, broad, level, elevated area between the Andes Mountains and the Atlantic Ocean.

Front 63

syncope

Back 63

loss of consciousness resulting from arrest of the blood supply to the brain : faint.

Front 64

pirouetted

Back 64

performed a full turn on the toe or ball of one foot in ballet.

Front 65

crustaceans

Back 65

animals belonging to a large class of invertebrates comprising the majority of the marine or freshwater arthropods (as lobsters, shrimps, crabs and barnacles) and some terrestrial forms (as the wood lice).

Front 66

eucalyptus

Back 66

an evergreen tree or shrub mostly native to western Australia that provides wood, oil and other products.

Front 67

moiety

Back 67

one of the portions into which something is divided : component, part.

Front 68

remonstrance

Back 68

an act or instance of saying or pleading in protest or opposition.

Front 69

prestidigitation

Back 69

the practice ofmagic or trickery usually involving manual dexterity.

Front 70

tetanus

Back 70

an acute infectious disease characterized by prolonged spasms of voluntary muscles and especially of the jaw muscles.

Front 71

Cotswold

Back 71

a sheep of an English breed of large long-wooled sheep.

Front 72

pertinacity

Back 72

the quality or state of being stubbornly unshakable.

Front 73

cayenne

Back 73

a very hot powder made by drying and grinding the whole fruits or the seeds of several hot peppers.

Front 74

Lilliput

Back 74

extremely small.

Front 75

patronymic

Back 75

a name derived from that of the father or his ancestor usually by the addition of a prefix or suffix.

Front 76

castellated

Back 76

built or formed like a castle.

Front 77

ebullience

Back 77

high spirits : enthusiasm.

Front 78

Hebrides

Back 78

islands of western Scotland in the Atlantic.

Front 79

phosphine

Back 79

a colorless very poisonous gaseous compound that may ignite spontaneously when mixed with air or oxygen and that is a weaker base than ammonia.

Front 80

nautilus

Back 80

any of several cephalopod mollusks of the southern Pacific and Indian Oceans with a spiral chambered shell that is pearly on the inside.

Front 81

outré

Back 81

not conforming to conventional behavior, custom or style : bizarre, extravagant.

Front 82

pterodactyl

Back 82

any of numerous extinct flying reptiles having no feathers, a wing membrane, and a tail usually rather short but sometimes expanded and resembling a rudder.

Front 83

aspidistra

Back 83

any plant of a genus of Asian herbs with large pointed leaves and flowers in sets of four borne close to the ground.

Front 84

chevalier

Back 84

a member of the lowest rank of a French order of merit.

Front 85

toccata

Back 85

a brilliant musical composition usually for pipe organ or harpsichord, in free fantasia style, and usually with many equal-timed notes in rapid movement.

Front 86

rheumatic

Back 86

of or relating to any of numerous conditions characterized by inflammation or pain in muscles, joints or fibrous tissue.

Front 87

tumulus

Back 87

a small artificial hill or mound (as over a grave).

Front 88

gendarme

Back 88

a European police officer, especially one from France.

Front 89

malacca

Back 89

the often spotted, slender woody stem of an Asian rattan palm used especially for walking sticks and umbrella handles.

Front 90

Huguenot

Back 90

a French Protestant in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Front 91

hors de combat

Back 91

out of action : in a disabled condition.

Front 92

phrenologists

Back 92

those versed in the study of the shape of the skull based on the belief that it indicates a person's mental faculties and character.

Front 93

reveille

Back 93

a signal usually sounded by bugle at about sunrise summoning soldiers or sailors to the day’s duties.

Front 94

ague

Back 94

a fever resembling malaria marked by sudden attacks of chills, fever and sweating that recur at regular intervals.

Front 95

netsuke

Back 95

a small object carved in wood or ivory or made of metal used by the Japanese as a toggle to fasten a small pouch or purse to the kimono sash.

Front 96

recherché

Back 96

of highest quality : exquisite.

Front 97

supererogation

Back 97

the act of performing more than is necessary to complete an undertaking.

Front 98

au fait

Back 98

familiar : fully informed : in touch.

Front 99

wallah or walla

Back 99

a person who is associated with a particular type of work or who performs a specific duty or service.

Front 100

a posteriori

Back 100

of or relating to what cannot be known except from experience : proved by induction from facts obtained by observation or experiment.