12 Insanely Hard-To-Spell Words That

Won Past Spelling Bees

Walter Hickey

May 30, 2013, 2:52 PM 53,931 6
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AP
The National Spelling Bee is upon us, an annual event that dates back to the Coolidge
administration that has served as a defining moment of immortality for 91 victorious children.
While the point of the Bee is to spell the words, not define them, half of the fun for the
viewer is to get a taste of some of the more arcane elements of language.
We went back through the history of Spelling Bee winners to find the coolest words that won
a kid a trophy.
Ordered sequentially by year:
2009: Laodician (adj.) - lukewarm or indifferent in religion or politics
Spelled by Kavya Shivashankar.


AP
David Tidmarsh meets George W. Bush
2004: autochthonous (adj.) - formed or originating in the place where found, native
Spelled by David Tidmarsh

2002: prospicience (noun) - the act of looking forward, foresight
Spelled by Pratyush Buddiga

1999: logorrhea (adj.) - excessive and often incoherent talkativeness or wordiness
Spelled by Nupur Lala

1997: euonym (noun) - a name well suited to the person, place, or thing named
Spelled by Rebecca Sealfon

1996: vivisepulture (noun) - the act or practice of burying alive
Spelled by Wendy Guey

1989: spoliator (noun) - One who plunders, pillages, despoils, or robs
Spelled by Scott Isaacs

1980: elucubrate (verb)- to solve, write or compose by working studiously at night.
Spelled by Jacques Bailly

1962: esquamulose (adj.) - Not covered in scales, or of scale like objects, a smooth skin
Spelled by Nettie Crawford and Michael Day

1961: smaragdine (adj.) Of or relating to emeralds, having the color of emeralds.
Spelled by John Capehart

1959: eudaemonic (adj.) - producing happiness, based on the idea of happiness as the proper
end of conduct
Spelled by Henry Feldman

1951: insouciant (adj.) - lighthearted unconcern, nonchalance
Spelled by Irving Belz
SEE ALSO: Here's What Past Spelling Bee Winners Looked Like In Their Greatest Moment
Of Triumph

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/these-12-words-guarantee-immortality-for-
spelling-bee-contestants-2013-5#ixzz30kJtWGQo