Spelling list: Silent g words

Sneaky silent letters make English spelling difficult! But don’t worry – our spelling activities will have you confidently spelling words with silent letters in no time.

This word list looks at words that are spelt with a silent g, for example: gnome, reign, foreign, and resign.

While, in Middle English, the g was pronounced in words like this, over time the pronunciation shifted and it became silent. Some words with silent letters were also originally borrowed from other languages.

Why not try out our spelling games? These silent g words will help you break the code in Codebreaker, beat the evil witch in Which Witch, and feed the hungry shark in Fishy Business.

gnome	We hide a spare key under the garden gnome.
gnat	A gnat is a small biting insect.
gnu	The gnu is an African antelope.
gnash	Did you hear the dog gnash his teeth?
gnarled	The trunk of the old tree was gnarled.
sign	The sign showed which way to go.
design	We are looking for someone to design our logo.
resign	His decision to resign from the position was regrettable. *
align	I hope the stars will align for us.
assign	We need to assign roles to each employee.
benign	A malign tumour is malignant; a benign one is not malignant.
malign	A malign tumour is malignant; a benign one is not malignant.
deign	Will the boss deign to attend our party?
reign	We lived under a reign of terror.
foreign	We love foreign travel.
sovereign	A reigning king or queen is a sovereign.
campaign	Will you support my campaign for better food?
consignment	A consignment of goods was sent from the factory.