Spelling Bee Words: Common or Proper?

  • Updated 2025-02-21

  • In many Spelling Bee puzzles, words that exist as both common and proper nouns (e.g., manhattan, panama, etc.) generate many comments and queries amongst Bee players.

  • LexiConnexxions reviewed the entire Bee lexicon of more than 10,500 words and found more than 100 words that can exist in both capitalized and uncapitalized forms.

  • The list includes words that we might see in both capitalized and uncapitalized forms that can be:
  • 1 – Names of people from real life (e.g., boycott, cardigan, guppy) or from literature and myth (e.g., puck, yahoo, triton)
  • 2 – Real or fictional place or regional names (e.g., tuxedo, arcadia, rugby, hackney, littleneck, arctic)
  • 3 – Brands, things, beliefs, customs (e.g., yule, bible, automat, noel)

  • This list does not include:
  • Toponyms and eponyms that have been modified so that they differ from their source words (e.g., calico).
  • Honorifics that may be capitalized (e.g., mahatma)
  • Brand names derived from common words (e.g., acrobat, ragu, motor vehicle makes and models)
  • Common nouns that may be used as given names (e.g., lily, bill, mike)
  • Currencies that are often capitalized
  • Geographic features that may be capitalized in place names (e.g., hill, mount)

  • Words marked with an asterisk * have been in past Bees but have been discontinued.

Spelling Bee Words That May Be Either Common or Proper Nouns and Adjectives
alpineangoraantarcticantifaapollo*arborioarcadiaarcadianarcticargonautautomatbabelbantambiblebikiniblimpbolognabourbonboycottbrainiacbruinbubba
canarycanolacapletcardigancarpacciocatholiccaymanchadchiantichiantichihuahuachinacognaccolacolognecongacupidcuracaodalmatiandaphnedelftdoily
donnybrookduffel / duffledumdumepiphanyfloragageganachegargantuangorgongothgraygroggunkguppyhackneyhydrahymenjavajuliennekarmakarmakelpie
kelpielandau*lido*lilliputianlimalittlenecklynchmacadammafiamagentamalamutemalapropmanhattanmanilamarathonmargaritamaroonmartianmartinmaydaymayomecca
mick*mochamogulmohawkmoroccomoxiemunchkinnapoleonnewtonnicenirvananoelodeonottomanpanamapantheonpapacypavlovapavlovapekephoenixpianola
pinotpuckpygmyquaaluderaglanrugbytartartiffanytikititantitanictorahtritontroytupelotuxedovalentinevoltwattyahooyenteyule
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