Week 31 of 36 · 10 words · ages 16–17

11th Grade spelling words, week 31: Latin roots: bene and mal

Latin bene means well and male means badly. Knowing the root tells you whether a word is kind or harmful, and helps the spelling.
malady
An illness or disorder.
malaise
A vague feeling of being unwell or uneasy.
maladroit
Clumsy and tactless.
malfeasance
Wrongdoing by an official.
beneficent
Doing good; kindly and generous.
malapropism
The mistaken use of a word that sounds like the right one.
malnutrition
Illness caused by a lack of proper food.
malodorous
Having a foul smell.
malpractice
Careless or wrong conduct by a professional.
malingerer
One who pretends to be ill to avoid work.

Ten minutes a day this week

Short and daily beats long and once. A word met on five separate days is remembered; a word met five times on Thursday night mostly is not.

  1. Monday

    Read the list together. Say each word, clap its syllables and find the pattern in it.

  2. Tuesday

    Look, say, cover, write, check — each word once from memory, then check the letters.

  3. Wednesday

    Use every word in a sentence, out loud or on paper, so each one means something.

  4. Thursday

    Practice test: a grown-up reads each word aloud. Circle the misses for tomorrow.

  5. Friday

    The test. One try per word, no letters given. The circled words go first.

Practise these 10 words, free

One tap puts this week’s list in SpellChirp. It reads each word aloud, checks the spelling, brings back the ones that went wrong, and can write them into a story your child stars in. No account needed to start, and no advertising.

Add week 31’s words