The spelling whizzes at this year’s National Spelling Bee may be able to breeze through “bougie,” “favorite” and “through,” but the average American struggles with spelling them, according to Unscramblerer.com.
Unscramblerer.com is an online source that includes a tool to help people find words from scrambled letters.
Representatives from Unscramblerer.com analyzed search data from Google Trends for “How do you spell” and “How to spell” between Jan. 1 and May 18 to come up with the nation’s most misspelled words. The study reveals the most misspelled words in America were those three, in that order, with “bougie” netting 134,400 searches, “favorite” getting 128,400 searches and “through” with 127,200 searches.
The remaining Top 10 most misspelled words in the United States included:
Most misspelled word in Ohio
Unscramblerer.com also broke down the most misspelled word by state. In Ohio, the top word is the nationally No. 6-ranked “because.” Residents in Indiana, Missouri and New Jersey also struggled with this word the most.
According to a representative from Unscramblerer.com, Ohio’s next most commonly misspelled words include:
What are other commonly misspelled words elsewhere in the nation?
Other words that other states’ residents found toughest to spell from the national list included:
Some states struggled to spell different words. These included:
2026 Scripps National Spelling Bee includes 12 students from Ohio
This year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee is May 26-28 at the historic Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. The event was set to include 247 spellers, including 12 from Ohio.
This year’s national competition includes six returning top finishers and 72 other veterans of past Scripps National Spelling Bees. More than two-thirds of the field – 169 spellers – are making their first appearance on the storied national stage. The national qualifiers advanced through local and regional bees that took place through late March. The spellers range in age from 9 to 15, and three of the nine 2025 finalists are returning to the 2026 national competition. There are spellers from all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
In addition, there are 13 national competitors from outside the 50 United States, coming from the Bahamas, Canada, Ghana, Guam, Nigeria, Puerto Rico, the United Arab Emirates and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Mina Kimes will host the semifinals and finals alongside Paul Loeffler, a former national competitor who is marking his 20th year as a Bee analyst. The broadcasts will feature a refreshed production vision from Embassy Row, the award-winning company led by 10-time Emmy-winning producer Michael Davies.
How to watch the Spelling Bee
The semifinals broadcast will air from 8 to 10 p.m. on ION on Wednesday, May 27. The live semifinals will be streamed on Scripps Sports Network and spellingbee.com from 2:30 to 6:30 p.m. earlier that day.
The finals broadcast will air live in primetime on ION from 8 to 10 p.m. on Thursday, May 28.
In addition to ION, the finals will air on Scripps’ other national entertainment networks and Free Ad-Supported Streaming (FAST) channels: ION Plus, Bounce, Grit, Laff, The Spot, ION, ION Plus, Bounce XL, Grit Xtra, Laff More, Scripps News and Scripps Sports Network. The semifinals will also air on ION, ION Plus, Laff, Bounce XL, Grit Xtra, Laff More, Scripps News and Scripps Sports Network.
Reporter April Helms, who has never come close to qualifying for a spelling bee, can be reached at ahelms@thebeaconjournal.com
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: What is the hardest word for Ohioans to spell? Answer may surprise you
Reporting by April Helms, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
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