Synonyms

spelling bee

American

noun

a spelling competition won by the individual or team spelling the greatest number of words correctly; spelldown.

spelling bee British

noun

a contest in which players are required to spell words according to orthographic conventions

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of spelling bee

First recorded in 1870–75

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

Mami will think my detention is another badge of shame, like last year when I said I didn’t want to be in the spelling bee.

From "Merci Suárez Changes Gears" by Meg Medina

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023