Faizan Zaki Wins 2025 Scripps National Spelling Bee After Coming in Second in 2024

Faizan Zaki is nan 2025 champion of nan Scripps National Spelling Bee competition.

The winner, 13, will person $50,000 successful rate from Scripps, $2,500 rate prize and reference room from Merriam-Webster and $400 worthy of reference useful from Encyclopædia Britannica, according to Scripps.

Zaki, of Plano, Texas, was past year's runner-up. He won this year's title during nan 11th information of nan finals pinch nan connection "éclaircissement," per The New York Times.

The connection intends "a clearing up of thing obscure," per Merriam-Webster.

This year’s rigorous title featured 243 agleam students from crossed each 50 states, nan District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, nan U.S. Virgin Islands, and Department of Defense Schools successful Europe. Students from nan Bahamas, Canada, Ghana, Kuwait and Nigeria besides competed to correspond their country.

The 2025 Scripps National Spelling Bee besides marked its 100th twelvemonth of pronunciation competitions. Students and their families visited nan Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center successful Maryland for Bee Week wherever nan centennial title was held. 

Participants competed successful 4 abstracted segments for nan coveted Scripps Cup that included nan Preliminaries, Quarterfinals, Semifinals and Finals. The title broadcasted connected ION began May 27 pinch nan last information airing May 29. 

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The 2nd information of title successful each shape includes a vocabulary information that was introduced successful 2021 to beforehand “knowledge and literacy” successful competitors, according to nan Scripps National Spelling Bee’s website. The title past ends pinch nan humanities “spell-off.”  

During past year’s Spelling Bee title 12-year-old ​​Bruhat Soma was named nan nationalist champion aft correctly pronunciation 29 words successful a 90-second tiebreaker. 

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The seventh grader from St. Petersburg, Fla., faced disconnected pinch Zaki successful a lightning tiebreaker information for competing successful a accepted round.     

Soma’s winning connection was "abseil," meaning "a descent successful mountaineering by intends of a statement looped complete a projection above," nan Scripps statement announced.