Every word that won a recorded spelling bee, year by year: national championship finals going back to 1925, and national and regional bees around the world. Each word links to its own Spelling Bee Hive page, where you can hear it pronounced, read what it means and practise spelling it.
Winning words are some of the hardest a speller will meet: long, rarely used and often borrowed from other languages. Studying them shows what the final rounds of a bee ask for. Each list names the sources the winners were recorded from.
Updated October 14, 2026.
186 winning words from 25 spelling bees, 1925 to 2026.
Scripps National Spelling Bee: 108 winning words, 1925 to 2026.
Recorded from List of Scripps National Spelling Bee champions - Wikipedia and 89th Scripps National Spelling Bee - Wikipedia.
The Spelling Bee Ghana: 18 winning words, 2008 to 2026.
Recorded from The Spelling Bee Ghana - Wikipedia.
South Asian Spelling Bee: 12 winning words, 2008 to 2020.
Recorded from South Asian Spelling Bee - Wikipedia and South Asian Spelling Bee – Wikipedia raw wikitext.
CanSpell National Spelling Bee: 8 winning words, 2005 to 2012.
Recorded from CanSpell National Spelling Bee - Wikipedia.
RHB-The Straits Times National Spelling Championship: 6 winning words, 2012 to 2017.
Recorded from RHB-The Straits Times National Spelling Championship – Wikipedia and ACS' (Primary) Jordan Foo is national Champion Speller – AsiaOne, 28 Apr 2012.
Jamaica Gleaner Children's Own Spelling Bee: 4 winning words, 2016 to 2020.
Spelling Bee Championship UAE: 4 winning words, 2013 to 2018.
Recorded from 'Xenolith' helps student win Dh25,000 spelling bee prize – Khaleej Times, 14 May 2018 and Dubai student wins Dh25000 US trip in spelling bee – Khaleej Times, 15 Feb 2016 (Danube Spelling Bee Championship 4th edition).
Bahamas National Spelling Bee: 3 winning words, 2011 to 2019.
RHB New Straits Times National Spell-It-Right Challenge: 3 winning words, in 2008.
Recorded from RHB New Straits Times National Spell-It-Right Challenge source.
Inter-Guianas Spelling Bee: 2 winning words, in 2016.
Recorded from Guyana overall w-i-n-n-e-r in first Inter-Guianas Spelling Bee.
Orange County Spelling Bee: 2 winning words, 2025 to 2026.
Recorded from Orange County Spelling Bee source and Orange County Spelling Bee source.
San Diego County Scripps Regional Spelling Bee: 2 winning words, 2025 to 2026.
Recorded from San Diego County Scripps Regional Spelling Bee source.
Santa Barbara County Spelling Bee: 2 winning words, in 2026.
Recorded from Santa Barbara County Spelling Bee source.
Badger State Spelling Bee Championship: 1 winning word, in 2026.
Recorded from Badger State Spelling Bee Championship source.
Eason Spelling Bee: 1 winning word, in 2011.
Recorded from Eason Spelling Bee — Official Site (Wayback Machine, September 2011).
GPL/IDB National Spelling Bee: 1 winning word, in 2013.
Recorded from Mon Repos Primary student wins GPL/IDB national spelling bee.
GT&T National Spelling Bee: 1 winning word, in 2012.
Recorded from Amelia's Ward student is National Spelling Bee c-h-a-m-p.
GT&T/Ministry of Education National Spelling Bee: 1 winning word, in 2011.
Recorded from Cropper Primary student is national spelling bee champ.
Macomb County Regional Spelling Bee: 1 winning word, in 2026.
Recorded from Macomb County Regional Spelling Bee source.
MTN mPulse Spelling Bee: 1 winning word, in 2024.
Recorded from From Spelling Bee winner to CEO, Ikechukwu's day at MTN Nigeria - The Guardian Nigeria.
Peppy's National Spelling Bee: 1 winning word, in 2015.
Recorded from Peppy's National Spelling Bee source.
Rotaract Club of Georgetown National Spelling Bee: 1 winning word, in 2007.
Recorded from Spelling Bee Champ.
Spelling Bee of Canada: 1 winning word, in 2020.
Recorded from Richmond student spells his way to national championship — Richmond News (November 2020).
Sylvan Learning Regional Spelling Challenge: 1 winning word, in 2016.
Recorded from Students compete in spelling challenge – Gulf News, Mar 2016 (Sylvan Learning Regional Spelling Challenge).
Vermont State Spelling Bee: 1 winning word, in 2026.
Recorded from Vermont State Spelling Bee source.
Spelling Bee Hive is an independent study resource. It is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by any spelling bee organiser, publisher or dictionary.