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The Winning Words

Here are a few of the orthographic challenges that contestants have had to face.

Words That Won

2007 serrefine : a small forceps for clamping a blood vessel
2006 ursprache : a parent language; especially : one reconstructed from the evidence of later languages
2005 appoggiatura : an accessory embellishing note or tone preceding an essential melodic note or tone
2004 autochthonous : indigenous, native, aboriginal—used especially in nature
2003 pococurante : indifferent, nonchalant
2002 prospicience : the act of looking forward : foresight
2001 succedaneum : a person or thing that takes the place or function of another
2000 demarche : a course of action or maneuver
1999 logorrhea : excessive talkativeness or wordiness
1998 chiaroscurist : an artist who specializes in chiaroscuro
1997 euonym : a name well suited to the person, place, or thing named
1996 vivisepulture : the act or practice of burying alive
1995 xanthosis : yellow discoloration of the skin from abnormal causes

Words That Stumped in the Past

ankylosaur : any of a suborder (Ankylosauria) of herbivorous Cretaceous dinosaurs having a long low-lying thickset body covered dorsally with bony plates
coulombs : the practical meter-kilogram-second units of electric charge equal to the quantity of electricity transferred by a current of one ampere in one second
delitescent : lying hidden : obfuscated, latent
eleemosynary : of, relating to, or supported by charity
gauche : lacking social experience or grace; also : not tactful : crude
larghissimo : in as slow a manner as possible — used as a direction in music
pentateuchal : of or relating to the first five books of the Old Testament
sussultatory : characterized by up-and-down vibrations of large amplitude — used of an earthquake
triskaidekaphobia : fear of the number 13
zebu : any of various breeds of domestic oxen developed in India that are characterized by a large fleshy hump over the shoulders, a dewlap, pendulous ears, and marked resistance to the injurious effects of heat and insect attack