NYT Spelling Bee Hints & Analysis

Tap or hover over a word to see its definition.

• ache be the source of pain
• athlete a person trained to compete in sports
• athletic vigorously active
• attach create social or emotional ties
• attache a specialist assigned to the staff of a diplomatic mission
• cache save up as for future use
• cachet a warrant formerly issued by a French king who could warrant imprisonment or death in a signed letter under his seal
• catch suffer from the receipt of
• catchall an enclosure or receptacle for odds and ends
• chai
• chalet a Swiss house with a sloping roof and wide eaves or a house built in this style
• chalice a bowl-shaped drinking vessel; especially the Eucharistic cup
• challah (Judaism) a loaf of white bread containing eggs and leavened with yeast; often formed into braided loaves and glazed with eggs before baking
• chat talk socially without exchanging too much information
• chattel personal as opposed to real property; any tangible movable property (furniture or domestic animals or a car etc.)
• cheat deprive somebody of something by deceit
• cheetah long-legged spotted cat of Africa and southwestern Asia having nonretractile claws; the swiftest mammal; can be trained to run down game
• chia
• chic elegant and stylish
• chica
• chichi affectedly trendy and fashionable
• chicle gum-like substance from the sapodilla
• chili very hot and finely tapering pepper of special pungency
• chill depress or discourage
• chit a dismissive term for a girl who is immature or who lacks respect
• chitchat talk socially without exchanging too much information
• cliche a trite or obvious remark
• each (used of count nouns) every one considered individually; quantifier, singular, universal pronoun; quantifier, singular, universal
• etch cause to stand out or be clearly defined or visible
• ethic a system of principles governing morality and acceptable conduct
• ethical conforming to accepted standards of social or professional behavior
• hail precipitate as small ice particles
• halal conforming to Muslim dietary laws
• hale exhibiting or restored to vigorous good health
• halite naturally occurring crystalline sodium chloride
• hall a large entrance or reception room or area
• halt disabled in the feet or legs
• hatch sit on (eggs)
• hatchet a small ax with a short handle used with one hand (usually to chop wood)
• hate dislike intensely; feel antipathy or aversion towards
• hath
• hatha
• heal provide a cure for, make healthy again
• health the general condition of body and mind
• heat provide with heat
• heath a low evergreen shrub of the family Ericaceae; has small bell-shaped pink or purple flowers
• hectic marked by intense agitation or emotion
• heel follow at the heels of a person
• heliacal pertaining to or near the sun; especially the first rising of a star after and last setting before its invisibility owing to its conjunction with the sun
• helical in the shape of a coil
• hell a cause of difficulty and suffering
• hellcat a malicious woman with a fierce temper
• hiatal
• hill form into a hill
• hilt the handle of a sword or dagger
• hitch jump vertically, with legs stiff and back arched
• itch scrape or rub as if to relieve itching
• latch fasten with a latch
• lath a narrow thin strip of wood used as backing for plaster or to make latticework
• lathe machine tool for shaping metal or wood; the workpiece turns about a horizontal axis against a fixed tool
• leach permeate or penetrate gradually
• lech man with strong sexual desires
• leech draw blood
• lethal of an instrument of certain death
• litchi Chinese tree cultivated especially in Philippines and India for its edible fruit; sometimes placed in genus Nephelium
• lithe gracefully thin and bending and moving with ease
• tach measuring instrument for indicating speed of rotation
• teach impart skills or knowledge to
• tech a school teaching mechanical and industrial arts and the applied sciences
• techie a technician who is highly proficient and enthusiastic about some technical field (especially computing)
• teeth the kind and number and arrangement of teeth (collectively) in a person or animal
• teethe grow teeth; cut the baby teeth
• telehealth
• that
• thatch cover with thatch
• thee
• theta the 8th letter of the Greek alphabet
• tilth arable land that is worked by plowing and sowing and raising crops
• tithe pay a tenth of one's income; pay one tenth of, especially to the church