Revealed: 2024’s Hardest English Words To Spell For Brits

A new study has revealed that 'diarrhoea' is the hardest word for Brits to spell.

SEO platform Ahrefs analysed Google searches from the past 12 months from October 2023 to 2024 for the 100 most-searched words with the phrases “how to spell” or “how do you spell” to see which words Britons find the hardest to spell.

1. Diarrhoea – 4,816 average monthly searches

Diarrhoea was the most difficult word to spell in the UK in 2024. It ranked first in cities including London, Birmingham, and Glasgow.

Diarrhoea has Greek roots through Latin, and the confusion about its spelling comes from how unintuitive it can be for English speakers.

The double R, the silent H, the O before the E, and that O being silent can all be tricky to remember. Furthermore, American English spells diarrhoea as diarrhea, compounding the confusion.

2. Beautiful – 3,641 average monthly searches

Beautiful was the hardest word to spell in Manchester, Liverpool, and Cardiff.

Beautiful’s Latin and French roots make its spelling unintuitive for English speakers. For example, the E-A-U section has a “yoo” sound. It also only has one L at the end despite sounding identical to the word full.

3. Colour – 3,266 average monthly searches

Bristol and Watford had colour as their second hardest word to spell.

Colour comes from Latin through French and can be confusing due to the silent U.

This is in addition to colour being the preferred spelling in British English, while color is the preferred spelling in American English.

4. Favourite – 2,991 average monthly searches

Favourite was looked up second most in Manchester.

Favourite has Latin origins via Italian and French. The silent U and E can confuse people, and it has different spellings depending on dialect. Favourite is the British version and favorite is the American version.

5. Gorgeous – 2,156 average monthly searches

Gorgeous was looked up most in cities including Middlesbrough, Milton Keynes, and Sunderland.

Gorgeous has French roots and is tricky to spell because of the E-O-U middle section, as two of these letters are silent. The soft second G could be confused with a J, too.

6. Decision – 2,100 average monthly searches

Decision ranked fifth in Gateshead.

Decision originates from Latin roots, and can be grammatically tricky due to the difference between how it is spoken and how it is written.

The C can be confused with an S, the S with a Z, and the I-O-N section has an “un” sound, which is unintuitive for English speakers.

7. Lose – 2,025 average monthly searches

Lose’s best placing was third in Watford.

Lose is confusing because of its similarity to loose. In addition, the O in lose has an “oo” sound, which can make people think it has a double O.

8. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious – 1,970 average monthly searches

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious ranked first in Belfast, Swansea, and Blackpool.

Popularised by Mary Poppins (1964), supercalifragilisticexpialidocious is tough to spell mainly due to its length.

In addition, it has a few tricky aspects to its spelling. In particular, the single Ls can be confused for double Ls, the soft G can be confused for a J, and the C-I-O-U-S section can be awkward with a C that has a “sh” sound and a silent U.

9. Receipt – 1,958 average monthly searches

Receipt ranked sixth in Birmingham and Manchester.

Receipt has French and Latin roots, and its spelling difficulty comes from the difference in its pronunciation compared with how it is written.

The silent P and the order of the E and I after the C can catch many out. However, the mantra “I before E except after C” holds true here.

10. Business – 1,955 average monthly searches

Business’ best placing was eighth in five cities, including Bournemouth, Blackpool, and Norwich.

Business can be tricky to get right because it is written differently from how it is pronounced. For example, the S has a Z sound, the U has an “ih” sound, and the I can be silent in many dialects.

Tim Soulo, CMO at Ahrefs, commented on the findings:

“No matter how good your grammar skills are, there always seems to be one word you are never completely sure of.

"With smartphones becoming so ubiquitous, a quick spell check is always on hand, and many people will search for a word on Google when faced with a spelling they find tricky.

“With this in mind, we wanted to find out which word had its spelling searched the most in the past year, finding that diarrhoea was the hardest word for Brits overall.

“Diarrhoea ranked so highly because it has two acceptable spellings.

"Diarrhoea is the preferred form in British English, while diarrhea is preferred in American English. In addition, it has many tricky sections that aren’t intuitive for English speakers.

"It is fascinating to see how many of the top 10 have roots in non-English languages. Many come from French and Latin, bringing grammatical conventions from those languages that aren’t often encountered in English, making them that much trickier to write correctly.”