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The 15 Words A Largo 14 Year Old Spelled To Win The National Spelling Bee

By Geno
Speller Dev Shah of Largo, Florida, is presented with a trophy by E. W. Scripps Company CEO Adam Symson after he won the 2023 Scripps National Spelling Bee at Gaylord National Hotel and Convention Center on June 1, 2023 in National Harbor, Maryland. Shah correctly spelled the word "psammophile" and won the competition.

It’s time for a real life version of “Are You Smarter Than an 8th Grader?” Grab someone who thinks they’re smart and see if they can spell the words 14 year old Dev Shah from Largo did tonight to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee!

The 14 year-old walked away with $50,000 and the National Spelling Bee trophy. He out-spelled 228 other contestants to get to the final round. According to ABC Action News, Dev has been seriously competing in spelling bee’s in the summer of fifth grade. When it came down to the final round of just two spellers, Dev spelled his word correctly, while his competitor did not. Dev then had to spell one more correct word for the championship title. He jumped from 51st and 76th place in previous competitions to first!

Here are the 15 words Dev spelled correctly and their meanings from Merrian-Webster. I can’t even pronounce half of them and that’s supposedly my job.

  • Ardoise

    “A grayish purple color.”

  • Grotesqueness

    “The quality of being comically out of place or absurd.”

  • Cocomat

    “A matting made of coconut fiber.”

    Frond Hat

    Coconut fronds being weaved into a decorative hat by Polynesians at Papeete, Tahiti. (Photo by Three Lions/Getty Images)

  • Exhortation

    “An address emphatically urging someone to do something.”

  • Glower

    “To look or stare with sullen brooding annoyance or anger.”

  • Perioeci

    “Those who live in the same parallel of latitude but on opposite meridians.”

    Budding Astronomers

    Teacher Mike Walmetz demonstrates the position of the earth and the moon during a lunar eclipse at the Flower Hill School. (Photo by Three Lions/Getty Images)

  • Legerdemain

    “Use of one’s hands conjuring tricks.”

  • Poliorcetics

    “The art of conducing and resisting sieges.”

  • Schistorrhachis

    “A not uncommon congenital defect in which a vertebra is malformed.”

  • Chiromancy

    “Supposed prediction of a person’s future from interpreting the lines on the palms of their hands.”

    Herbert's Future

    British statesman Herbert Morrison (1888 – 1965) has his palm read by Mrs Vaughan Williams at the Brockham Green Festival in Surrey, 2nd July 1951. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

  • Aegagrus

    “An undomesticated goat.”

  • Rommack

    “To romp or play boisterously.”

  • Tolsester

    “A toll paid to the feudal lord by a tenant for liberty to brew and sell ale.”

  • Bathypitotmeter

    “An instrument designed to record the current velocity and water temperature.”

  • Psammophile

    “An organism that prefers or thrives in sandy soils.”

    Students Compete In The 95th Scripps National Spelling Bee

    Speller Dev Shah of Largo, Florida, celebrates with his father Deval Shah, mother Nilam Shah, and brother Neil Shah after he won the 2023 Scripps National Spelling Bee at Gaylord National Hotel and Convention Center on June 1, 2023 in National Harbor, Maryland. Shah correctly spelled the word “psammophile” and won the competition. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Meet the winner. Congratulations Dev!

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