1. A medical condition characterized by rough, inflamed patches of skin
   A bacterium that includes many pathogens that cause pus formation
2. A rare disease that causes boils
   The development of malignant growths near a primary cancer site

In 1987, 13-year-old Stephanie Petit from Pennsylvania won the 60th annual competition by correctly spelling "staphylococci." The word is the plural form of a kind of bacteria that causes staph infections and diseases like pneumonia, meningitis and sepsis.

1. The replacement of a simple vowel with a dipthong (usually due to a forthcoming consonant)
   The part of the egg that is clear when uncooked and white when cooked
2. A small bone or nodule developed in a tendon where it passes over an angle
   The part of the temporal bone that creates prominence in the cheek

In 1930, 14-year-old Helen Jensen of Iowa won the sixth-ever Scripps National Spelling Bee with the word "albumen." The last hour of the contest was broadcast on public radio. At this point in time, there were only 24 contestants (compared to 519 in 2018).

1. Xanthosis
   Succedaneum
2. Buccal
   Cerumen

In 2001, 13-year-old Sean Conley from Anoka, Minnesota won the Scripps competition by correctly spelling "succedaneum. Succedaneum means "a substitute," especially for drugs or medicine.

1. Cubit
   Ambulatory
2. Autochthonous
   Marocain

In 2004, 14-year-old David Tidmarsh won the 77th annual competition by correctly spelling "autochthonous." In the year prior, Tidmarsh took 16th place. Autochthonous comes from the Greek prefix "auto," which means "self, and "chthon," which means "of the earth."

1. Colloquy
   Agitprop
2. Démarche
   Agora

In 2000, 12-year-old George Abraham Thampy from Saint Louis, Missouri won the competition with the word "démarche." After Rebecca Sealfon in 1997, Thampy was the second home-schooled student to ever win the competition. He also won second place in the National Geography Bee earlier that year.

1. Treyf
   Potchke
2. Knaidel
   Pareve

In 2013, 13-year-old Arvind Mahankali from New York took home the 86th Scripps National Spelling Bee prize for correctly spelling "knaidel." The word, which another term for a matzo ball, caused controversy when a number of Yiddish speakers said the winning spelling was incorrect. However, Mahankali's spelling matched Merriam-Webster's.

1. Lines written in opposing directions
   A part of a publication dedicated to fiction, literature or criticism
2. An authoritative demand
   An apparatus for visual signals

In 2014, both Ansun Sujoe of Texas and Sriram Hathwar of New York won the competition. Sujoe correctly spelled feuilleton and Hathwar correctly spelled stichomythia to assume their winning positions. It was the first time the contest ended in a tie for over five decades.

1. Not to be avoided or changed
   A stage during eukaryotic cell division in which the chromosomes separate to opposite poles of the cell
2. A thumb that is absent, rudimentary or lacks bones
   Possessing multiple prickles or spines

Over the years, contestants have incorrectly spelled this word "myriacanthus," "meriocanthous" and "mirocanthous." In their defense, this word is very seldom used today. Animals like hedgehogs, porcupines and sea urchins might be considered to be myriacanthous.

1. Palatalize
   Tagliatelle
2. Macerate
   Coiffeuse

In 1972, 14-year-old Robin Kral from Texas took home the gold at the 45th Scripps National Spelling Bee with the word "macerate." Today, the verb is mostly used as a synonym for soften or liquefy when referring to food. To macerate as a term for "to grow thin" by fasting is a more outdated usage.

1. Analgesic
   Antineoplastic
2. Antipyretic
   Anaerobic

In 1991, 13-year-old Joanna Lagatta from Wisconsin correctly spelled antipyretic to take home the 64th Scripps Bee win. In the contest, Lagatta and the second-place winner, Maria Mathew, battled for 90 minutes until a winner emerged. Antipyretic means "used to prevent or reduce fever," and usually refers to drugs.

1. Prospicience
   Cogitate
2. Retrocede
   Retrodict

Pratyush Buddiga, 13, from Colorado Springs, Colorado won the 75th Bee with this word. This was the first year that the competition featured a written portion in order to limit it to two days despite increased participants.

1. Elucubrate
   Foraminate
2. Echinulate
   Heliciform

In 1980, 14-year-old Jacques Bailey won the 53rd annual competition with this word. Elucubrate primarily refers to the the production of written works. It comes from the Latin word "elucbrare," which means "to compose by lamplight."

1. Indistinct or vague
   Timid, weak or ineffectual
2. Having smooth skin without scales
   Used to relieve pain or cure disease

Both winners of the 35th annual Scripps National Spelling Bee in 1962 failed to spell the obscure word esquamulose correctly. After Nettie Crawford and Mike Day became co-champions, a tie wouldn't happen again for over 50 years.

1. One of two or more words with the same spelling or pronunciation but varying meanings
   A word or named used as a substitute for something else
2. A word with two opposite meanings
   A name aptly suited to the noun its named for

In 1997, 13-year-old Rebecca Sealfon from Brooklyn, New York won the competition with the word "euonym." Some might say that Usain Bolt is a euonym because he's known as the fastest man in the world (and his last name is bolt). Sealfon was the first home-schooled student to win the contest and is remembered for her ecstatic reaction to realizing she won.

1. Laodicean
   Guerdon
2. Pococurante
   Lyceum

In 2003, 13-year-old Sai R. Gunturi from Dallas, Texas won the Scripps contest by correctly spelling the Italian-derived word "pococurante." The classical Latin root "paucus" means "little, few" and "curante" means "to care." It's safe to say that Gunturi wasn't a pococurante about his $12,000 win.

1. Marocain
   Stromuhr
2. Knaidel
   Guetapens

In 2012, 14-year-old Snigdha Nandipati won the National Spelling Bee with the word "guetapens," which is a French word for "trap." Nandipati, who said she read encyclopedias for fun, planned to use her $30,000 in prize money to save for college.

1. A leader who seeks support by appealing to popular interests
   A chaotic, uncontrolled gathering
2. Someone who practices severe self-discipline and avoids self-indulgence as a religious or spiritual discipline
   Someone or something that is the center of attention or admiration

Over the years, "cynosure" was incorrectly spelled by contestants as "sinischure," "synosure," and "synosure." The word "cynosure" is derived in part from the Greek word "kunosoura," which means "dog's tail." Originally, the term denoted the star constellation Ursa Minor, which was used as a guide by navigators.

1. Cheerful
   Dark and foreboding
2. Stormy
   Bright and sunny

Scripps contestants incorrectly spelled this word "procellus" twice and "procellas" once. Meaning turbulent or stormy, the first known instance of "procellous" appeared in a work by playwright Thomas Goffe around the early 15th century.

1. Sphygmomanometer
   Croesus
2. Stromuhr
   Dialyser

Anamika Veeramani, 14, won the 83rd Scripps National Spelling Bee with the word "stromuhr." At the time, Veeramani said she hoped to become a cardiovascular surgeon when she grows up. If she achieved her goal, she would likely end up using a stromuhr.

1. Nunatak
   Farouche
2. Quaternary
   Lacustrine

In 2015, 14-year-old Gokul Venkatachalam and 13-year-old Vanya Shivashankar came out of the competition as co-winners. This was the second year in a row that the outcome of the Scripps National Spelling Bee was a tie. Gokul correctly spelled "nunatak" and Vanya spelled "scherenschnitte" for the win.

1. Necrotize
   Monture
2. Cynosure
   Vivisepulture

In 1996, 12-year-old Wendy Guey from Palm Beach, Florida won the competition with the word "vivisepulture." The competition was Guey's fourth. The winning word comes from the Latin root word "to live" and "sepultura," which means "burial or funeral."

1. Gourmand
   Marocain
2. Muslin
   Farouche

In 2017, 12-year-old Ananya Vinay won the 90th Scripps National Spelling Bee with this word. This year, the spellers ranged from ages 6 to 15 and came from all 50 states, U.S. territories, the Bahamas, Canada, Ghana, Jamaica, Japan and South Korea. Competitors from Department of Defense schools in Europe also competed.

1. Nudicaulous
   Mucilaginous
2. Opinicus
   Brummagem

"Mucilaginous" was incorrectly spelled three times by contestants over the years. Misspellings included "muculagenous," "mucelagenous" and "muscillaginous." The competition regularly repeats words from previous years.

1. A split branch or stem
   An acrobat or circus performer
2. A flower from the iris family
   A portion of grass-covered ground

The very first National Spelling Bee took place in Washington D.C. on June 17, 1925. It was sponsored by the Louisville Courier-Journal; Scripps-Howard didn't begin hosting it until 1941. Frank Neuhauser, 11, won $500 thanks to his correct spelling of the word "gladiolus."

1. Withering or decaying
   Worried or anxious
2. Casual unconcern
   Gleeful

In 1951, 13-year-old Irving Belz from Tennessee won the competition when he spelled this word. At this time, the first-place award was only $500 (compared to $30,000 today).

1. Bosky
   Gauche
2. Smaragdine
   Glabrous

In 1961, 12-year-old John Capehart from Tulsa, Oklahoma won the competition with this peculiar word. The word comes from the Latin word for emerald, "smaragdinus." It can also mean "of or pertaining to emeralds."

1. Possessing the form of animal
   An inclination to extreme talkativeness
2. A pleasing, sweet sound
   A feeling of agitation or distress

Nupur Lala, 14, from Florida won the 72nd Scripps Bee with the word "logorrhea." A 2003 documentary by Jeffrey Blitz called "Spellbound" covered this Bee in great depth and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary Feature.

1. A dramatic written commentary on a form of visual art
   Comparison between two otherwise unlike things
2. A figure of speech in which a word or phrase is substituted with something else associated with it
   A short account of an incident or event

Examples of metonymy include Edward Bulwer Lytton's famous lines "The pen is mightier than the sword" or Shakespeare's "Lend me your ears." Similar to a synecdoche, metonymy replaces something for another associated part. Referring to a man as a "stuffed suit" would also be considered metonymy.

1. A brief, trivial fact
   An encompassing remedy for ills or difficulties
2. Someone who is a nuisance
   Excessive sentimentality

In 2004, 13-year-old Akshay Buddiga lost the competition by misspelling this word; Stuti Mishra then lost because of the word in 2012. The word stems from the German word schwärmen, which means to be enthusiastic or "to swarm."

1. Peshitta
   Koinonia
2. Aramaic
   Antilegomena

In 2018, 14-year-old Karthik Nemmani from McKinney, Texas was the big winner. Nemmani spent about four hours a day studying for the Bee with his 16-year-old coach. She focused on teaching him the mechanics, patterns and etymologies of the words he was likely to encounter.

1. Palaver
   Chiaroscurist
2. Hierophant
   Abstractionist

In 1998, 12-year-old Jody Anne Maxwell from Kingston, Jamaica won the 71st Scripps National Spelling Bee with the word "chiaroscurist." She was the second student from outside the U.S. to take home the trophy in the competition's history.

1. Xanthosis
   Amyloidosis
2. Anaphylaxis
   Thrombosis

In 1995, 15-year-old Justin Tyler Carroll from Arkansas won the 68th Bee with the word "xanthosis." Xanthosis was also used as a term for a mid-20th century strawberry-yellowing virus and a disease that causes the brown pigmentation of heart muscles and bones in cattle.

1. In a state of decay
   Relating to rural life
2. Capable of being understood in multiple ways
   Like a fox

Akshay Buddiga had the microphone in his hand and was poised to spell the word during the 77th competition when suddenly, he fainted. The audience gasped and then gasped again as he quickly stood up again and spelled it correctly. He ended up finishing in second place.

1. Elucubrate
   Eudaemonic
2. Marocain
   Elegiacal

In 1960, 13-year-old Henry Feldman won the Scripps National Spelling Bee by correctly spelling "eudaemonic." The mid-19th century word stems from the Greek word eudaimonikos, which means happy.

1. Used to prevent fever
   Despoiled or plundered
2. To have wavy hair
   Old-fashioned

In 2011, 14-year-old Sukanya Roy won the National Spelling Bee by correctly spelling the word cymotrichous, which means "to have wavy hair." Roy's win was the fourth year in a row that an Indian-American won the competition.