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National Spelling Bee '14: Prelims Round 2

Words from Round 2 of the 2014 Scripps National Spelling Bee.
200 words 3,664 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

  1. protege
    a person who receives support from an influential patron
  2. verboten
    forbidden or prohibited
  3. pneumatic
    relating to or using air or a similar gas
  4. coloratura
    singing with florid ornamentation
  5. mikado
    the emperor of Japan
  6. belligerent
    characteristic of an enemy or one eager to fight
  7. ocelot
    nocturnal wildcat of Central America and South America having a dark-spotted buff-brown coat
  8. succotash
    fresh corn and lima beans with butter or cream
  9. tchotchke
    an inexpensive showy trinket
  10. punctilio
    a fine point of etiquette or petty formality
  11. charlatan
    a flamboyant deceiver
  12. hyperbole
    extravagant exaggeration
  13. guillotine
    instrument of execution used for beheading people
  14. springbok
    a South African gazelle noted for springing lightly into the air
  15. melange
    a varied mixture or assortment of things
  16. diphthong
    a sound that glides between two vowels in a single syllable
  17. recalcitrant
    stubbornly resistant to authority or control
  18. pogrom
    organized persecution of an ethnic group, especially Jews
  19. facetious
    cleverly amusing in tone
  20. mozzarella
    mild white Italian cheese
  21. mnemonic
    of or relating to the practice of aiding the memory
  22. sauerbraten
    pot roast marinated several days in seasoned vinegar before cooking; usually served with potato dumplings
  23. rendezvous
    a meeting planned at a certain time and place
  24. mesmerize
    attract strongly, as if with a magnet
  25. tamarind
    long-lived tropical evergreen tree with a spreading crown and feathery evergreen foliage and fragrant flowers yielding hard yellowish wood and long pods with edible chocolate-colored acidic pulp
  26. Croesus
    last king of Lydia (died in 546 BC)
  27. debacle
    a sudden and complete disaster
  28. odyssey
    a long wandering and eventful journey
  29. scherzo
    a fast movement (usually in triple time)
  30. euphemism
    an inoffensive expression substituted for an offensive one
  31. ersatz
    an artificial or inferior substitute or imitation
  32. raconteur
    a person skilled in telling anecdotes
  33. vernacular
    the everyday speech of the people
  34. pitchblende
    a mineral consisting of uranium oxide and trace amounts of radium and thorium and polonium and lead and helium; uraninite in massive form is called pitchblende which is the chief uranium ore
  35. keeshond
    a spitz-like dog having a shaggy greyish coat and tightly curled tail originating in Holland
  36. philippic
    a speech of violent denunciation
  37. gauche
    lacking social polish
  38. kohlrabi
    plant cultivated for its enlarged fleshy turnip-shaped edible stem
  39. anomaly
    deviation from the normal or common order, form, or rule
  40. karaoke
    singing popular songs accompanied by a recording
  41. jacamar
    tropical American insectivorous bird having a long sharp bill and iridescent green or bronze plumage
  42. perennial
    lasting an indefinitely long time
  43. commissar
    an official of the Communist Party who was assigned to teach party principles to a military unit
  44. mattock
    a kind of pick that is used for digging
  45. sassafras
    yellowwood tree with brittle wood and aromatic leaves and bark; source of sassafras oil; widely distributed in eastern North America
  46. zucchini
    marrow squash plant whose fruit are eaten when small
  47. symbiosis
    the relation between two interdependent species of organisms
  48. cynosure
    something that provides guidance
  49. raita
    an Indian side dish of yogurt and chopped cucumbers and spices
  50. fete
    an elaborate party, often outdoors
  51. algorithm
    a precise rule specifying how to solve some problem
  52. gymkhana
    a meet at which riders and horses display a range of skills and aptitudes
  53. blitzkrieg
    a military offensive with intensive aerial bombardment
  54. cacophony
    loud confusing disagreeable sounds
  55. pizzicato
    with a light plucking staccato sound
  56. egregious
    conspicuously and outrageously bad or reprehensible
  57. ipecac
    a medicinal drug used to evoke vomiting
  58. glasnost
    a Soviet policy allowing freer discussion of social problems
  59. edelweiss
    alpine perennial plant native to Europe having leaves covered with whitish down and small flower heads held in stars of glistening whitish bracts
  60. recidivist
    someone who lapses into undesirable patterns of behavior
  61. novillero
    a bullfighter who is required to fight bulls less than four years of age
  62. balalaika
    a stringed instrument that has a triangular body and three strings
  63. philately
    the collection and study of postage stamps
  64. Weimaraner
    large breed of hound having a smooth greyish coat
  65. sortie
    a military action in which besieged troops burst forth
  66. furlough
    a temporary leave of absence, especially from military duty
  67. tahini
    a thick Middle Eastern paste made from ground sesame seeds
  68. batik
    a dyed fabric
  69. palmetto
    any of several low-growing palms with fan-shaped leaves
  70. metamorphosis
    striking change in appearance or character or circumstances
  71. alcazar
    any of various Spanish fortresses or palaces built by the Moors
  72. mercerize
    treat to strengthen and improve the luster
  73. anachronism
    locating something at a time when it couldn't have existed
  74. precipice
    a very steep cliff
  75. coati
    omnivorous mammal of Central America and South America
  76. ephemeral
    anything short-lived, as an insect that lives only for a day
  77. fuselage
    the central body of an airplane holding crew and passengers
  78. glockenspiel
    a percussion instrument consisting of a set of metal bars
  79. Fahrenheit
    of or relating to a temperature scale proposed by the inventor of the mercury thermometer
  80. minaret
    a slender tower with balconies, especially on a mosque
  81. paradigm
    a standard or typical example
  82. maraschino
    distilled from fermented juice of bitter wild marasca cherries
  83. virgule
    a punctuation mark (/) used to separate related items of information
  84. hartebeest
    a large African antelope with lyre-shaped horns that curve backward
  85. exacerbate
    make worse
  86. asana
    a posture or manner of sitting
  87. infinitesimal
    immeasurably small
  88. sachem
    a chief of a North American tribe or confederation
  89. Bolshevik
    a Russian member of the left-wing majority group that followed Lenin and eventually became the Russian communist party
  90. alchemy
    a pseudoscientific forerunner of chemistry in medieval times
  91. poignant
    keenly distressing to the mind or feelings
  92. corpuscle
    an unattached cell such as a red or white blood cell
  93. crescendo
    a gradual increase in loudness
  94. pyre
    wood heaped for burning a dead body as a funeral rite
  95. lieutenant
    a commissioned military officer
  96. mihrab
    a design in the shape of niche in a Muslim prayer rug
  97. hypocrisy
    pretending to have qualities or beliefs that you do not have
  98. echt
    not fake or counterfeit
  99. Boswell
    Scottish author noted for his biography of Samuel Johnson
  100. chauvinism
    fanatical patriotism
  101. poltergeist
    a ghost that creates disorder and noise
  102. susceptible
    yielding readily to or capable of
  103. troika
    a Russian carriage pulled by three horses abreast
  104. lahar
    an avalanche of volcanic water and mud down the slopes of a volcano
  105. gynarchy
    a political system governed by a woman
  106. taupe
    a greyish brown
  107. perestroika
    an economic policy adopted in the former Soviet Union
  108. vaquero
    a cowboy or cattle driver
  109. ocarina
    egg-shaped terra cotta wind instrument with a mouthpiece and finger holes
  110. alkali
    any of various water-soluble compounds capable of turning litmus blue and reacting with an acid to form a salt and water
  111. tritium
    a radioactive isotope of hydrogen
  112. schottische
    a German round dance resembling a slow polka
  113. wainscot
    wooden panels that can be used to line the walls of a room
  114. Hemerocallis
    east Asian rhizomatous clump-forming perennial herbs having flowers on long leafless stalks; cosmopolitan in cultivation: day lilies; sometimes placed in subfamily Hemerocallidaceae
  115. ostentatious
    intended to attract notice and impress others
  116. mistletoe
    Old World parasitic shrub having branching greenish stems with leathery leaves and waxy white glutinous berries; the traditional mistletoe of Christmas
  117. lederhosen
    leather shorts often worn with suspenders
  118. dahlia
    any of several plants of or developed from the species Dahlia pinnata having tuberous roots and showy rayed variously colored flower heads; native to the mountains of Mexico and Central America and Colombia
  119. halal
    conforming to dietary laws
  120. escargot
    edible snails
  121. rhinoceros
    massive powerful herbivorous odd-toed ungulate of southeast Asia and Africa having very thick skin and one or two horns on the snout
  122. segue
    proceed without interruption, in music or talk
  123. visceral
    relating to or affecting the internal organs
  124. sarsaparilla
    any of various prickly climbing plants of the tropical American genus Smilax having aromatic roots and heart-shaped leaves
  125. dichotomy
    a classification into two opposed parts or subclasses
  126. homburg
    a hat made of felt with a creased crown
  127. quisling
    someone who collaborates with an enemy occupying force
  128. macrame
    a relatively coarse lace; made by weaving and knotting cords
  129. braggadocio
    vain and empty boasting
  130. surveillance
    close observation of a person or group
  131. Rottweiler
    German breed of large vigorous short-haired cattle dogs
  132. menhaden
    shad-like North American marine fishes used for fish meal and oil and fertilizer
  133. archipelago
    a group of many islands in a large body of water
  134. hippopotamus
    a large plant-eating animal often found near African rivers
  135. Renaissance
    period of European history at the close of the Middle Ages
  136. jeremiad
    a long and mournful complaint
  137. apartheid
    a social policy of racial segregation
  138. witloof
    widely cultivated herb with leaves valued as salad green
  139. ingenue
    an artless innocent young girl
  140. eiderdown
    down of the eider duck
  141. arachnid
    arthropods with simple eyes and four pairs of legs
  142. capricious
    determined by chance or impulse rather than by necessity
  143. efficacy
    capacity or power to produce a desired result
  144. heifer
    young cow
  145. intaglio
    a printing process that uses an etched or engraved plate
  146. innocuous
    not injurious to physical or mental health
  147. hierarchy
    a series of ordered groupings within a system
  148. Schadenfreude
    delight in another person's misfortune
  149. myriad
    a large indefinite number
  150. narcissistic
    having an inflated idea of one's own importance
  151. muishond
    southern African weasel
  152. fusillade
    rapid simultaneous discharge of firearms
  153. dachshund
    small long-bodied short-legged German breed of dog having a short sleek coat and long drooping ears; suited for following game into burrows
  154. mahout
    the driver and keeper of an elephant
  155. euthanasia
    the act of killing someone painlessly
  156. saboteur
    someone who deliberately destroys or disrupts something
  157. paparazzo
    a freelance photographer who pursues celebrities
  158. schipperke
    breed of small stocky black dogs originally used as watchdogs on boats in the Netherlands and Belgium
  159. serendipity
    good luck in making unexpected and fortunate discoveries
  160. chassis
    the skeleton of a motor vehicle
  161. samovar
    a metal urn with a spigot at the base
  162. soliloquy
    speech you make to yourself
  163. calypso
    rare north temperate bog orchid bearing a solitary white to pink flower marked with purple at the tip of an erect reddish stalk above 1 basal leaf
  164. Geronimo
    Apache chieftain who raided the white settlers in the Southwest as resistance to being confined to a reservation (1829-1909)
  165. gingham
    a woven cotton fabric, typically with a checked pattern
  166. wedel
    ski, alternating directions
  167. mediocre
    moderate to inferior in quality
  168. apparatchik
    a communist who was a member of the administrative system of a communist party
  169. conquistador
    a 16th-century Spanish conqueror of Peru and Mexico
  170. vivace
    lively, in music
  171. schnauzer
    old German breed of sturdy black or greyish wire-haired terriers having a blunt muzzle ranging in size from fairly small to very large; used as ratters and guard dogs or police dogs
  172. repertoire
    the range of skills in a particular field or occupation
  173. forsythia
    any of various early blooming oleaceous shrubs of the genus Forsythia; native to eastern Asia and southern Europe but widely cultivated for their branches of bright yellow bell-shaped flowers
  174. maelstrom
    a powerful circular current of water
  175. Qatari
    of or concerning Qatar or its inhabitants
  176. Buddha
    founder of Buddhism; worshipped as a god (c 563-483 BC)
  177. blase
    nonchalantly unconcerned
  178. pasteurize
    heat food in order to kill harmful microorganisms
  179. Fraulein
    a German courtesy title or form of address for an unmarried woman
  180. Eocene
    from 58 million to 40 million years ago
  181. cappelletti
    small circular or square cases of dough with savory fillings
  182. ameliorate
    make better
  183. garibaldi
    a loose high-necked blouse with long sleeves
  184. philhellenism
    admiration for Greece and the Greeks and Greek customs
  185. misogynist
    a misanthrope who dislikes women in particular
  186. motif
    a recurrent element in a literary or artistic work
  187. zephyr
    a slight wind
  188. pernicious
    exceedingly harmful
  189. Wiccan
    of or relating to Wicca
  190. borzoi
    tall fast-moving dog breed
  191. peccadillo
    a petty misdeed
  192. dossier
    papers containing detailed information about a person
  193. prosciutto
    Italian salt-cured ham usually sliced paper thin
  194. tertiary
    coming third in position
  195. tokamak
    a doughnut-shaped chamber used in fusion research
  196. rapport
    a relationship of mutual understanding between people
  197. tarragon
    aromatic perennial of southeastern Russia
  198. Baedeker
    German publisher of a series of travel guidebooks
  199. salaam
    a deep bow; a Muslim form of salutation
  200. pickelhaube
    a spiked helmet worn by German soldiers
Created on May 28, 2014 (updated May 28, 2014)

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