The champions and winning words from the last 20 years of spelling bees

The Scripps National Spelling Bee, America’s foremost authority on children’s spelling abilities, wrapped up tonight, crowning Ananya Vinay for spelling the winning word “marocain.”

While some competition words may stretch the limits of syllables most adults are comfortable memorizing, sometimes a silent letter, surprising vowel digraph or even its general obscurity are enough to make a simple sounding word challenging. Take for example like 2013’s deceptively difficult winning word: “knaidel,” the Yiddish word for matzo ball.

You can read through the bee’s winning words dating back to 1925 at their website. Here are all the winners of the past two decades, and the word they had to spell to take home the championship trophy.

2016: Co-champions Jairam Hathwar and Nihar Janga – Feldenkrais, gesellschaft

2015: Co-champions Gokul Venkatachalam and Vanya Shivashankar – nunatak, scherenschnitte

2014: Co-champions Ansun Sujoe and Sriram Hathwar – feuilleton, stichomythia

2013: Arvind Mahankali – knaidel

2012: Snigdha Nandipati – guetapens

2011: Sukanya Roy – cymotrichous

2010: Anamika Veeramani – stromuhr

2009: Kavya Shivashankar – Laodicean

2008: Sameer Mishra – guerdon

2007: Evan M. O’Dorney – serrefine

2006: Kerry Close – Ursprache

2005: Anurag Kashyap – appoggiatura

2004: David Tidmarsh – autochthonous

2003: Sai R. Gunturi – pococurante

2002: Pratyush Buddiga – prospicience

2001: Sean Conley – succedaneum

2000: George Abraham Thampy – demarche

1999: Nupur Lala – logorrhea

1998: Jody-Anne Maxwell – chiaroscurist

1997: Rebecca Sealfon – euonym