List Of The Most Tough Scripps Spelling Bee Words In 2025
Salutations, word warriors and letter lovers! The Scripps National Spelling Bee List 2025 is back (and with a bang!!) with another list of words that make anyone from your kid to graduate students – and everyone in between and beyond – question the English language.
We did the work and rounded up over 100 of the trickiest and downright befuddling words from the 2025 list – instead of giving you boring textbook definitions, though – we break things down in a way that you [actually] make sense. Grab a snack, then, and let’s get our spelling on!
Some Tricks And Tips For Practicing Scripps Spelling Bee Words
Abecedarian
A total newbie at something (like a baby learning to crawl – but for words).
Absquatulate
To run away so fast, people wonder if you ever existed.
Anfractuous
So full of twists and turns that it makes a pretzel look straight.
Borborygmus
That embarrassing stomach growl that always happens in a silent room.
Cacophony
A noise so loud and messy it sounds like five toddlers playing the drums.
Defenestration
The fancy way of saying “yeeting” someone out a window.
Effulgent
Shiny, sparkly, and glowing like a Hollywood star’s teeth.
Floccinaucinihilipilification
Act of deciding something is worthless… like your homework when Netflix exists.
Gobbledygook
When people talk fancy (but it makes zero sense).
A super tiny musical note that only exists to stress out musicians.
Juxtaposition
Placing two things side by side just to see how different they are.
Kakorrhaphiophobia
The irrational fear of failure (basically, the reason everybody procrastinates).
Lollygag
Wasting time like you have all the time in the world.
Mumpsimus
Stubbornly sticking to a mistake, even when proven wrong.
Nudiustertian
A ridiculously fancy way to say ‘the day before yesterday.’
Obfuscate
Making something so unclear, no one knows what’s going on.
Persnickety
Being super picky about tiny details.
Quixotic
Unrealistically optimistic (like thinking you can learn all these words in one night).
Rambunctious
Wild, loud, and full of energy.
Sesquipedalian
A person who loves using long words (like the ones in this list!).
Tintinnabulation
The ringing sound of bells or your ears (commonly happens after you’ve been to a loud concert).
Ubiquitous
So common it’s everywhere (like bad Wi-Fi when you need good Wi-Fi).
The study of flags (because someone out there really, really loves flags).
Widdershins
Moving counterclockwise, or just the opposite direction of what everyone else is doing.
Xanthippe
A grumpy, nagging woman (but let’s not use this one too much, shall we?).
Yclept
An old-fashioned way of saying ‘named,’ because ‘named’ was apparently too easy.
Zeugma
When one word does two jobs in a sentence, like ‘She broke his heart and his favorite coffee mug.’
Agog
Super excited and barely able to sit still.
Brouhaha
A big noisy fuss (oftentimes, over something silly).
Cantankerous
A person who wakes up on the wrong side of the bed [every day].
Discombobulate
To utterly confuse someone [or yourself, for that matter].
Ennui
Fancy word for extreme boredom (but it sounds more sophisticated, you know!).
Flummoxed
So confused you forget how to function.
Guffaw
An unexpected [and loud] laugh that escapes before you can stop it.
Hootenanny
A fun party with music and dancing (and probably someone playing a banjo).
Inscrutable
Something so mysterious, you can’t even guess what’s going on.
Jibber-jabber
Nonstop nonsense talk.
Kerfuffle
A mild but dramatic commotion over nothing.
Lackadaisical
Lazy/unmotivated.
Mellifluous
A voice or sound (so sweet and smooth, it’s like melted chocolate for one’s ears).
Nonplussed
Completely stunned.
Ornery
Extra stubborn and grumpy [just for fun, or maybe not].
Pettifogger
A person who argues over silly details (like why ‘tomato’ is pronounced differently in the UK).
Quagmire
A messy, complicated situation (kind of like when you say “You too!” to a waiter saying “Enjoy your meal.”)
Rigmarole
A long, boring process full of unnecessary steps.
Shenanigans
Mischief and general goofiness.
Taradiddle
A fancy way to say “a little lie.”
Umbra
The darkest part of a shadow (also where you stand when avoiding someone).
Vamoose
To leave quickly.
Whippersnapper
An old-timey insult for a young person being way too confident.
Xenophobic
Fearful of anything foreign/unfamiliar.
Yawp
A loud, enthusiastic shout [usually unnecessary but fun].
Zamboni
That machine that smooths out ice rinks (because someone had to name it).
Abstruse
So complicated that you need a PhD to understand it.
Blatherskite
A person who talks nonsense [nonstop].
Callipygian
A very fancy way to compliment someone’s well-shaped backside.
Doodle
Mindless scribbling (often more interesting than actual work).
Ephemeral
Something that disappears way too fast (see – weekends).
Fopdoodle
A fool or simpleton (but in the most adorable way).
Gadzooks
A dramatic way to say “Wow!” but like an old-timey cartoon character.
Gobsmacked
So shocked, you momentarily forget how to function.
Higgledy-piggledy
A chaotic mess [e.g., your bedroom after ‘cleaning’ it].
Ignominious
Embarrassing on a grand/unconceivable scale.
Janky
Low-quality/broken [or just held together by sheer willpower alone].
Kismet
Fancy term for ‘fate,’ used when things go suspiciously well (or terribly wrong).
Limerence
That dizzy/obsessive kind of crush where you overanalyze text messages.
Mollycoddle
To spoil someone so much they forget how to do things themselves.
Nefarious
Evil/villainous (or at least plotting something questionable).
Onomatopoeia
A word that sounds like what it describes (like BOOM, me-ow, or splat).
Paucity
A fancy way of saying there’s barely any of something.
Quokka
The happiest-looking animal on the planet (Google it, you won’t regret it).
Razzmatazz
Flashy/exciting/over-the-top.
Snollygoster
A person who will do anything to get ahead (often used for politicians).
Tchotchke
Random little knick-knack that sits on a shelf collecting dust.
Uxorious
Someone who’s so devoted to their spouse that they forget other humans exist.
Verisimilitude
When something is so realistic (you forget it’s fake).
Wabbit
[No] not a rabbit. It actually means tired or worn out (Looney Tunes missed the memo).
Xylography
The art of carving words into wood (because paper was too mainstream).
Yobbo
A loud, unruly person [one who probably just got kicked out of a pub].
Zaftig
A curvy, full-figured body type (since some words are just better than others).
Antediluvian
So old it makes dinosaurs look recent.
Bumfuzzle
To completely confuse someone (or be totally confused yourself).
Cattywampus
Crooked/off-kilter (or generally not where it’s supposed to be).
Donnybrook
A chaotic, all-out brawl (but it sounds way fancier).
Eucatastrophe
A sudden happy ending [when you were expecting doom].
Flibbertigibbet
Someone who talks way too much [and about everything].
Gargalesthesia
The scientific term for being ticklish (yes, this is a real word).
Hobbledehoy
That awkward teenage phase where nothing fits right.
Illustrious
Famous and probably the person with the best seat in the room.
Jentacular
Anything related to breakfast (because the most important meal of the day deserved a fancy word).
Kerplunk
The sound of something falling dramatically (like your phone in water).
Lickspittle
A suck-up, a.k.a. an extreme people-pleaser.
Mumpsimus
Stubbornly refusing to change a mistake [even when you know you’re wrong].
Noodlehead
A goofy, forgetful person (we all know at least one).
Octothorpe
The real name for the # symbol.
Piffle
Nonsense or talking just to fill the silence.
Quisling
A traitor or someone you definitely wouldn’t trust with secrets.
Rigmarole
An overly complicated process that makes zero sense.
Skullduggery
Sneaky, underhanded trickery (great for pirate stories).
Tatterdemalion
Someone wearing completely raggedy clothes (basically, a human version of your childhood teddy bear).
Ultracrepidarian
Someone who gives opinions on stuff they know nothing about.
Vexing
Annoying in a way that makes you want to throw your phone.
Whirligig
Something that spins around like it has no sense of direction.
Xyster
A surgical tool for scraping bones (probably not a word you’ll use daily, but cool to know).
Yaffle
To eat super fast.
Zarf
The cardboard sleeve around a coffee cup (yes, that thing actually has a name – go Starbucks!).
Abulia
Inability to make decisions.
Bumbershoot
A fancy old-timey word for umbrella.
Cwtch
A cozy/warm hug (Welsh people got it right with this one).
Diphthong
That weird sound when two vowels blend (like the ‘oi’ in ‘coin ’).
You have done it (the ‘it’ being – made it to the end of this list)! So, tell us – which of these words are you going to [casually] drop in conversation [you know – to sound like a genius – hopefully, and not a freak of nature]. Let us know!
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