How to spell hilarious

hear ithi·lar·i·ous/hɪ'lɜriəs/adjectiveSchwa and roots

What it means: Causing laughter or amusement.

In a sentence: The clown at the party was so hilarious that everyone laughed.

The part people get wrong

Watch for an unstressed vowel that is hard to hear. Often misspelled as hillarious or hilarous.

Same family: hilarity, funny, amusing, comical, humorous. If you can spell one, the shared part carries to the others.

Where it comes from: “Hilarious” comes from the Latin word *hilaris*, meaning cheerful, which is related to the Greek *hilaros* for ‘merry’ or ‘cheerful.’ It shares a root with “hilarity,” the noun for great laughter and fun.

Patterns it uses: The unstressed vowel (schwa)

Try spelling it

You will hear the word and a sentence. Type it and press Enter. Then four more words from the same level, so you know where you stand.

Words like this

victorious · notorious · permanent · perseverance · rebellious · infectious · generous · luxurious

Spelling.School is a spaced-repetition spelling practice: ten minutes a day, every word spoken aloud, every miss explained, and every word coming back just before you would forget it. Try five words without signing up.