Here are the words from the 2021 National Spelling Bee. All of them are hard.

How would you fare?
By Shannon Connellan  on 
Here are the words from the 2021 National Spelling Bee. All of them are hard.
The 11 finalists of the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Orlando, Florida. Credit: JIM WATSON / POOL/AFP via Getty ImagesPOOL / AFP via Getty Images

Competitive spelling is one of those magical skills I'm happy to watch others completely obliterate.

Zaila Avant-garde, 14, won this year's Scripps National Spelling Bee on Thursday, becoming the first African American to win it since the first competition in 1925. She beat 209 talented young spellers, including 12-year-old runner up Chaitra Thummala, to take home the title, correctly spelling the word "murraya," defined as "a genus of tropical Asiatic and Australian trees."

In case you're wondering how you would have fared against a group of super smart, determined, focused young spelling whizzes, here are some of the words from this year's spelling bee. These are from rounds 12-18 (the really, really hard ones toward the end of the gruelling, long competition), some which saw competitors eliminated, and others which, correctly spelled, propelled them forward into the next round and eventually, to victory.

We've dropped the Merriam-Webster definitions beside them, to help if you're testing your friends and family (National Spelling Bee competitors are allowed to ask for this, so your loved ones are, too).


murraya: a genus of tropical Asiatic and Australian trees

retene: a crystalline hydrocarbon C18H18 isolated especially from pine tar, rosin oil, and various fossil resins but usually prepared from abietic acid and related compounds by dehydrogenation; 1-methyl-7-isopropyl-phenanthrene

neroli oil: a fragrant pale yellow essential oil obtained from flowers chiefly of the sour orange and used especially in cologne and as a flavoring

Nepeta: Catmint, (any of a genus (Nepeta) of Old World temperate-zone herbs of the mint family)

fewtrils: things of little value

fidibus: a paper spill for lighting pipes

haltere: one of a pair of club-shaped organs in a dipteran fly that are the modified second pair of wings and function as sensory flight stabilizers

athanor: a self-feeding digesting furnace that maintained a uniform and durable heat and was used by alchemists

depreter: a finish for a plastered wall made by pressing small stones in the soft plaster

consertal: of an igneous rock, of a texture in which the irregularly shaped crystals interlock

psychagogic: attractive, persuasive, inspiring; of or relating to psychagogy

duchesse: a chaise longue with arms that was popular in 18th century France; or less commonly duchess, a fine lustrous rayon or silk satin for clothing; a very small cream puff with sweet or savory filling used as dessert or served with cocktails

thanatophidia: venomous snakes

ambystoma: capitalized: a genus (the type of the family Ambystomidae) of common salamanders confined to America and characterized by amphicoelous vertebrae, short prevomers, and internal fertilization; plural: a salamander of the genus Ambystoma

theodolite: a surveyor's instrument for measuring horizontal and usually also vertical angles

ancistroid: shaped like a hook : resembling a hook

chrysal: a transverse line of crushed fibers in the belly of an archery bow beginning as a pinch

cloxacillin: a semisynthetic oral penicillin C19H17ClN3NaO5S effective especially against staphylococci which secrete beta-lactamase

regolith: unconsolidated residual or transported material that overlies the solid rock on the earth, moon, or a planet

A black and white image of a person with a long braid and thick framed glasses.
Shannon Connellan

Shannon Connellan is Mashable's UK Editor based in London, formerly Mashable's Australia Editor, but emotionally, she lives in the Creel House. A Tomatometer-approved critic, Shannon writes about everything (but not anything) across entertainment, tech, social good, science, and culture.


Recommended For You
Are you in the solar eclipse path? These calculators tell you.
Path of totality crossing the United States during April 2024 solar eclipse


Get ready: SpaceX Starship will try to fly again soon
SpaceX getting ready to launch Starship


5 tech marvels we love from Disney's 'Iwájú'
Tola stares out of a flying car in the Disney animated series "Iwájú".

Trending on Mashable
NYT Connections today: See hints and answers for March 28
A phone displaying the New York Times game 'Connections.'

NYT's The Mini crossword answers for March 28
Closeup view of crossword puzzle clues

Wordle today: Here's the answer and hints for March 28
a phone displaying Wordle


The biggest stories of the day delivered to your inbox.
This newsletter may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. Subscribing to a newsletter indicates your consent to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe from the newsletters at any time.
Thanks for signing up. See you at your inbox!