The Scripps National Spelling Bee (formerly the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee and commonly called the National Spelling Bee) is an annual spelling bee held in the United States. The competition began in 1925, and was initially organized by The Courier-Journal of Louisville, Kentucky, until the Scripps Howard Broadcasting Company (now the E. W. Scripps Company) assumed sponsorship in 1941. Every speller in the competition has previously participated in a local spelling bee, usually organized by a local newspaper.
The first champion was Frank Neuhauser of Louisville, who beat eight other finalists to win the inaugural competition. He was honored with a parade in his hometown, where and when he was presented with bouquets of gladioli in commemoration of the winning word "gladiolus", and returned to the Bee a number of times as a guest of honor. The first girl to win was Pauline Bell, also of Louisville, the following year. Girls won nine consecutive competitions from 1932 to 1940. Joint winners have been crowned on seven occasions in the Bee's history. The first such occurrence was in 1950, when Colquitt Dean and Diana Reynard were declared co-champions after the contestants exhausted the list of available words. In both 1957 and 1962 joint champions were declared when both remaining contestants spelled the same word incorrectly. After three consecutive ties from 2014 to 2016, a written tiebreaker round was introduced, but it was discontinued for the 2019 Bee, which subsequently resulted in an unprecedented eight-way tie when the organizers ended the final session after the remaining contestants had completed five consecutive perfect rounds.
Although the competition is titled "National," it is not restricted to spellers from the United States. In 1998, Jody-Anne Maxwell from Jamaica became the first speller from outside the U.S. to win the Bee, as well as the first black winner. In recent decades the competition has been dominated by Indian-American students. Although people of South Asian origin make up less than one percent of the U.S. population, the vast majority of the winners since 1999, including all 14 champions between 2008–2018 and seven of the eight co-champions in 2019, have come from the South Asian community. One such speller, Nihar Janga from Austin, Texas, became the youngest champion in the Bee's history when he won the title in 2016 at the age of 11. The 93rd Scripps National Spelling Bee in 2021 was the first time an African-American speller (Zaila Avant-garde) became the champion and only the second time that the champion was a black person.
The competition was not held from 1943 to 1945 because of World War II. The 2020 competition was canceled due to concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic.
On May 29, 2025, returning entrant Faizan Zaki of Allen, Texas, who was first runner-up in 2024, won the 2025 Scripps National Spelling Bee title and trophy over 242 other contestants, including runner-up Sarvadnya Kadam of Visalia, California. This year marked the 100th anniversary of the spelling competition which began on June 17, 1925. Forty-two former National Spelling Bee winners returned to attend the centennial celebration, the earliest two from 1960 (Henry Feldman) and 1961 (John Capehart) to then-reigning champion Bruhat Soma (2024). The 2026 Scripps National Spelling Bee finals were held in Washington, D.C. at DAR Constitution Hall.
Champions
Joint champions
Edition Year Competition-ending word Winner Sponsor Sponsor's location 1st 1925 gladiolus The Courier-Journal Louisville, Kentucky 2nd 1926 cerise The Courier-Journal Louisville, Kentucky 3rd 1927 abrogate Akron Beacon Journal Akron, Ohio 4th 1928 knack South Bend News-Times South Bend, Indiana 5th 1929 luxuriance Omaha World-Herald Omaha, Nebraska 6th 1930 albumen The Des Moines Register and Tribune Des Moines, Iowa 7th 1931 foulard White Hall Register-Republican White Hall, Illinois 8th 1932 invulnerable The Des Moines Register and Tribune Des Moines, Iowa 9th 1933 torsion Akron Beacon Journal Akron, Ohio 10th 1934 brethren Portland Evening Express Portland, Maine 11th 1935 intelligible Akron Beacon Journal Akron, Ohio 12th 1936 eczema The Des Moines Register and Tribune Des Moines, Iowa 13th 1937 promiscuous The Courier-Journal Louisville, Kentucky 14th 1938 sanitarium The Louisville Times Louisville, Kentucky 15th 1939 canonical Telegram & Gazette Worcester, Massachusetts 16th 1940 therapy The Knoxville News-Sentinel Knoxville, Tennessee 17th 1941 initials The Detroit News Detroit, Michigan 18th 1942 sacrilegious El Paso Herald-Post El Paso, Texas 19th 1946 semaphore The Des Moines Register and Tribune Des Moines, Iowa 20th 1947 chlorophyll Atlanta Journal Atlanta, Georgia 21st 1948 psychiatry Akron Beacon Journal Akron, Ohio 22nd 1949 onerous Canton Repository Canton, Ohio 23rd 1950meticulosity Cleveland Press Cleveland, Ohio Atlanta Journal Atlanta, Georgia 24th 1951 insouciant Memphis Press Scimitar Memphis, Tennessee 25th 1952 vignette Winston-Salem Journal Winston-Salem, North Carolina 26th 1953 soubrette Arizona Republic Phoenix, Arizona 27th 1954 transept Norristown Times Herald Norristown, Pennsylvania 28th 1955 crustaceology St. Louis Globe-Democrat St. Louis, Missouri 29th 1956 condominium Pittsburgh Press Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 30th 1957 schappe Rocky Mountain News Denver, Colorado Canton Repository Canton, Ohio 31st 1958 syllepsis Topeka Daily Capital Topeka, Kansas 32nd 1959 catamaran Rocky Mountain News Denver, Colorado 33rd 1960 eudaemonic The Knoxville News-Sentinel Knoxville, Tennessee 34th 1961 smaragdine Tulsa Tribune Tulsa, Oklahoma35th1962esquamulose El Paso Herald-Post El Paso, Texas St. Louis Globe-DemocratSt. Louis, Missouri 36th 1963 equipage The Knoxville News-Sentinel Knoxville, Tennessee 37th 1964 sycophant Akron Beacon Journal Akron, Ohio 38th 1965 eczema Tulsa Tribune Tulsa, Oklahoma 39th 1966 ratoon Houston Chronicle Houston, Texas 40th 1967 chihuahua The Omaha World-Herald Omaha, Nebraska 41st 1968 abalone The Topeka Daily Capital Topeka, Kansas 42nd 1969 interlocutory Dallas Morning News Dallas, Texas 43rd 1970 croissant Winston-Salem Journal & Sentinel Winston-Salem, North Carolina 44th 1971 shalloon Philadelphia Bulletin Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 45th 1972 macerate Lubbock Avalanche-Journal Lubbock, Texas 46th 1973 vouchsafe Fort Worth Press Fort Worth, Texas 47th 1974 hydrophyte Birmingham Post-Herald Birmingham, Alabama 48th 1975 incisor San Juan Star San Juan, Puerto Rico 49th 1976 narcolepsy Syracuse Herald-Journal Syracuse, New York 50th 1977 cambist The Pittsburgh Press Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 51st 1978 deification The Topeka Capital-Journal Topeka, Kansas 52nd 1979 maculature Rocky Mountain News Denver, Colorado 53rd 1980 elucubrate Rocky Mountain News Denver, Colorado 54th 1981 sarcophagus El Paso Herald-Post El Paso, Texas 55th 1982 psoriasis Rocky Mountain News Denver, Colorado 56th 1983 Purim El Paso Herald-Post El Paso, Texas 57th 1984 luge Loudoun Times-Mirror Leesburg, Virginia 58th 1985 milieu Chicago Tribune Chicago, Illinois 59th 1986 odontalgia The Patriot News Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 60th 1987 staphylococci The Pittsburgh Press Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 61st 1988 elegiacal The Sacramento Bee Sacramento, California 62nd 1989 spoliator Rocky Mountain News Denver, Colorado 63rd 1990 fibranne The Seattle Times Seattle, Washington 64th 1991 antipyretic Wisconsin State Journal Clintonville, Wisconsin 65th 1992 lyceum The Richmond News Leader Richmond, Virginia 66th 1993 kamikaze The Commercial Appeal Memphis, Tennessee 67th 1994 antediluvian The Knoxville News-Sentinel Knoxville, Tennessee 68th 1995 xanthosis The Commercial Appeal Memphis, Tennessee 69th 1996 vivisepulture The Palm Beach Post West Palm Beach, Florida 70th 1997 euonym New York Daily News New York City 71st 1998 chiaroscurist Phillips & Phillips Stationery Suppliers Kingston, Jamaica 72nd 1999 logorrhea The Tampa Tribune Tampa, Florida 73rd 2000 demarche St. Louis Post-Dispatch St. Louis, Missouri 74th 2001 succedaneum Sean Conley Aitkin Independent Age Aitken, Minnesota 75th 2002 prospicience Rocky Mountain News Denver, Colorado 76th 2003 pococurante Dallas Morning News Dallas, Texas 77th 2004 autochthonous South Bend Tribune South Bend, Indiana 78th 2005 appoggiatura San Diego Union-TribuneSan Diego, California 79th 2006 Ursprache Asbury Park Press/Home News Tribune Spring Lake, New Jersey 80th 2007 serrefine Contra Costa Times Walnut Creek, California 81st 2008 guerdon Journal & Courier West Lafayette, Indiana 82nd 2009 Laodicean The Olathe News Olathe, Kansas 83rd 2010 stromuhr The Plain Dealer Cleveland, Ohio 84th 2011 cymotrichous Times Leader Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania 85th 2012 guetapens U-T San Diego San Diego, California 86th 2013 knaidel New York Daily News New York City87th2014 stichomythia Corning Rotary Club Corning, New York feuilleton Texas Christian University Fort Worth, Texas 88th2015scherenschnitteThe Olathe NewsOlathe, KansasnunatakSt. Louis Post-DispatchSt. Louis, Missouri89th2016Feldenkrais Corning Rotary ClubCorning, New YorkgesellschaftHouston Public MediaAustin, Texas 90th 2017 marocain The Fresno Bee Fresno, California 91st 2018 koinonia Karthik Nemmani Scoggins Middle School McKinney, Texas92nd2019 auslaut Bay Area Regional Spelling Bee San Jose, California erysipelas Adventure Travel Huntsville, Alabamabougainvillea Howard County Library Clarksville, Marylandaiguillette Rosa International Middle School Cherry Hill, New Jerseypendeloque Dallas Sports Commission Dallas, Texaspalama Dallas Sports Commission Flower Mound, Texascernuous Discover Lehigh Valley Whitehouse Station, New Jerseyodylic Dallas Sports Commission Irving, Texas 93rd 2021 murraya New Orleans Chapter of the Links New Orleans, Louisiana 94th 2022 moorhen Harini Logan The Brauntex Performing Arts Theatre Association San Antonio, Texas 95th 2023 psammophile Dev Shah SNSB Region One Bee Largo, Florida 96th 2024 abseil Bruhat Soma Rays Baseball Foundation and Rowdies Soccer Fund St. Petersburg, Florida 97th 2025 éclaircissement Faizan Zaki Dallas Sports Commission Allen, Texas 98th 2026 bromocriptine Shrey Parikh San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools Rancho Cucamonga, California
Notes
References
External links spellingbee.com, the official website of the Scripps National Spelling Bee