National Spelling Bee winning words throughout history
By Josh Sanchez
On Thursday night, the 2014 Scripps National Spelling Bee will come to its conclusion with the live finals on ESPN. While we will have to wait to see what the winning word in 2014 will be, we can look back throughout history to see the words that would have stumped most of us when we were a teenager.
So what words have crowned each of the past winners?
You can see the full list of winning words since the Scripps National Spelling Bee began in 1925:
| YEAR | WORD | CHAMPION | SPONSOR |
1925 | gladiolus | Frank Neuhauser | Louisville Courier-Journal, |
1926 | cerise | Pauline Bell | Louisville Courier-Journal, |
1927 | luxuriance | Dean Lucas | Akron Beacon Journal, |
1928 | albumen | Betty Robinson | South Bend News-Tribune, |
1929 | asceticism | Virginia Hogan | The Omaha World-Herald, |
1930 | fracas | Helen Jensen | Des Moines Register & Tribune, |
1931 | foulard | Ward Randall | White Hall Register-Republican, |
1932 | knack | Dorothy Greenwald | Des Moines Register & Tribune, |
1933 | torsion | Alma Roach | Akron Beacon Journal, |
1934 | deteriorating | Sarah Wilson | Portland Evening Express, |
1935 | intelligible | Clara Mohler | Akron Beacon Journal, |
1936 | interning | Jean Trowbridge | Des Moines Register & Tribune, |
1937 | promiscuous | Waneeta Beckley | Louisville Courier-Journal, |
1938 | sanitarium | Marian Richardson | Louisville Times, |
1939 | canonical | Elizabeth Ann Rice | Worcester Telegram & Gazette, |
1940 | therapy | Laurel Kuykendall | The Knoxville News-Sentinel, |
1941 | initials | Louis Edward Sissman | Detroit News, |
1942 | sacrilegious | Richard Earnhart | El Paso Herald-Post, |
1946 | semaphore | John McKinney | Des Moines Register & Tribune, |
1947 | chlorophyll | Mattie Lou Pollard | Atlanta Journal, |
1948 | psychiatry | Jean Chappelear | Akron Beacon Journal, |
1949 | dulcimer | Kim Calvin | Canton Repository, |
1950 | meticulosity | Diana Reynard and Colquitt Dean | Cleveland Press, Cleveland, Ohio, and |
1951 | insouciant | Irving Belz | Memphis Press Scimitar, |
1952 | vignette | Doris Ann Hall | Winston-Salem Journal, |
1953 | soubrette | Elizabeth Hess | Arizona Republic, |
1954 | transept | William Cashore | Norristown Times Herald, |
1955 | crustaceology | Sandra Sloss | St. Louis Globe-Democrat, |
1956 | condominium | Melody Sachko | The Pittsburgh Press, |
1957 | schappe | Sandra Owen and Dana Bennett | Canton Repository, Canton, Ohio, and |
1958 | syllepsis | Jolitta Schlehuber | Topeka Daily Capital, |
1959 | catamaran | Joel Montgomery | Rocky Mountain News, |
1960 | eudaemonic | Henry Feldman | The Knoxville News-Sentinel, |
1961 | smaragdine | John Capehart | Tulsa Tribune, |
1962 | esquamulose | Nettie Crawford¹ and Michael Day | El Paso Herald-Post, El Paso, Texas, and |
1963 | equipage | Glen Van Slyke III | The Knoxville News-Sentinel, |
1964 | sycophant | William Kerek | Akron Beacon Journal, |
1965 | eczema | Michael Kerpan Jr. | Tulsa Tribune, |
1966 | ratoon | Robert A. Wake | Houston Chronicle, |
1967 | Chihuahua | Jennifer Reinke | The Omaha World-Herald, |
1968 | abalone | Robert L. Walters | The Topeka Daily Capital, |
1969 | interlocutory | Susan Yoachum | Dallas Morning News, |
1970 | croissant | Libby Childress | Winston-Salem Journal & Sentinel, |
1971 | shalloon | Jonathan Knisely | Philadelphia Bulletin, |
1972 | macerate | Robin Kral | Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, |
1973 | vouchsafe | Barrie Trinkle | Fort Worth Press, |
1974 | hydrophyte | Julie Ann Junkin | Birmingham Post-Herald, |
1975 | incisor | Hugh Tosteson | San Juan Star, |
1976 | narcolepsy | Tim Kneale | Syracuse Herald Journal-American, |
1977 | cambist | John Paola | The Pittsburgh Press, |
1978 | deification | Peg McCarthy | The Topeka Capital-Journal, |
1979 | maculature | Katie Kerwin | Rocky Mountain News, |
1980 | elucubrate | Jacques Bailly | Rocky Mountain News, |
1981 | sarcophagus | Paige Pipkin | El Paso Herald-Post, |
1982 | psoriasis | Molly Dieveney | Rocky Mountain News, |
1983 | Purim | Blake Giddens² | El Paso Herald-Post, |
1984 | luge | Daniel Greenblatt | Loudoun Times-Mirror, |
1985 | milieu | Balu Natarajan | Chicago Tribune, |
1986 | odontalgia | Jon Pennington | The Patriot News, |
1987 | staphylococci | Stephanie Petit | The Pittsburgh Press, |
1988 | elegiacal | Rageshree Ramachandran | The Sacramento Bee, |
1989 | spoliator | Scott Isaacs | Rocky Mountain News, |
1990 | fibranne | Amy Marie Dimak | The Seattle Times, |
1991 | antipyretic | Joanne Lagatta | The Wisconsin State Journal, |
1992 | lyceum | Amanda Goad | The Richmond News Leader, |
1993 | kamikaze | Geoff Hooper | The Commercial Appeal, |
1994 | antediluvian | Ned G. Andrews | The Knoxville News-Sentinel, |
1995 | xanthosis | Justin Tyler Carroll³ | The Commercial Appeal, |
1996 | vivisepulture | Wendy Guey | The Palm Beach Post, |
1997 | euonym | Rebecca Sealfon | Daily News, |
1998 | chiaroscurist | Jody-Anne Maxwell | Phillips & Phillips Stationery Suppliers, Ltd., |
1999 | logorrhea | Nupur Lala | The Tampa Tribune, |
2000 | demarche | George Abraham Thampy | St. Louis Post-Dispatch, |
2001 | succedaneum | Sean Conley | Aitkin Independent Age, |
2002 | prospicience | Pratyush Buddiga | Rocky Mountain News, |
2003 | pococurante | Sai R. Gunturi | The Dallas Morning News, |
2004 | autochthonous | David Tidmarsh | South Bend Tribune, |
2005 | appoggiatura | Anurag Kashyap | San Diego Union-Tribune, |
2006 | Ursprache | Kerry Close | Asbury Park Press/Home News Tribune, |
2007 | serrefine | Evan M. O’Dorney | Contra Costa Times, |
2008 | guerdon | Sameer Mishra | Journal and Courier, |
| 2009 | Laodicean | Kavya Shivashankar | Olathe News, |
| 2010 | stromuhr | Anamika Veeramani | The Plain Dealer, |
2011 | cymotrichous | Sukanya Roy | Times Leader, |
| 2012 | guetapens | Snigdha Nandipati | U-T San Diego, |
| 2013 | knaidel | Arvind Mahankali | Daily News, |