Did you know that the Scripps National Spelling Bee turns 100 in 2025? The first competition was held on June 17, 1925, at the National Museum in Washington, D.C. Nine finalists competed, and the winner was just eleven years old! In honor of the Scripps National Spelling Bee’s 100th year, we’ve listed 20 of the hardest words, along with the winners who spelled them correctly. Are you confident you could spell these winning words?
Frank Neuhauser (1925)
Word: gladiolus
Age: 11
Virginia Hogan (1929)
Word: luxuriance
Age: 12
Elizabeth Ann Rice (1939)
Word: canonical
Age: 12
Kim Calvin
Word: onerous
Age: 13
Sandra Sloss (1955)
Word: crustaceology
Age: 13
Jolitta Schlehuber (1958)
Word: syllepsis
Age: 14
John Capehart (1961)
Word: smaragdine
Age: 12
William Kerek (1964)
Word: sycophant
Age: 12
Jennifer Reinke (1967)
Word: chihuahua
Age: 14
Julie Ann Junkin (1974)
Word: hydrophyte
Age: 12
Jacques Bailly (1980)
Word: elucubrate
Age: 14
Stephanie Petit (1987)
Word: staphylococci
Age: 13
Rageshree Ramachandran (1988)
Word: 13
Age: elegiacal
Ned G. Andrews (1994)
Word: antediluvian
Age: 13
Jody-Anne Maxwell (1998)
Word: chiaroscurist
Age: 12
Sean Conley (2001)
Word: succedaneum
Age: 13
Anurag Kashyap (2005)
Word: appoggiatura
Age: 13
Anamika Veeramani (2010)
Word: stromuhr
Age: 13
Arvind Mahankali (2013)
Word: knaidel
Age: 13
Bruhat Soma (2024)
Word: abseil
Age: 12
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