spelling bee

NOUN

spelling competition

Synonyms

WEAK

spelldown spelling contest spelling game spelling test

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

A lot of them had excelled in school: We talked to a boy that had just won a spelling bee, for example.

From Slate • Mar. 20, 2026

In 1992, Vice President Dan Quayle corrected a 12-year-old spelling bee contestant on camera, incorrectly instructing him to add the letter “e” onto the end of the word “potato.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 11, 2026

Also worth noting: I won my grade-wide spelling bee in first grade by correctly spelling "hamburger."

From Salon • Mar. 8, 2025

Aliyah Alpert, who finished ninth in 2022, missed the bee entirely last year because she flubbed the word “recoup” in the Yavapai County spelling bee in her home state of Arizona.

From Seattle Times • May 29, 2024

I saw a movie about a spelling bee once.

From "The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle" by Leslie Connor