The toughest words contestants had to spell in this year's spelling bee

HUNDREDS of children have competed in the annual spelling bee competition in America.
By Matthew Mohan-Hickson
Published 31st May 2019, 16:42 BST
Updated 31st May 2019, 16:47 BST
Erin Howard, 14, of Huntsville, Ala., reacts as she prepares to spell her final word as she competes in the finals of the 2019 Scripps National Spelling Bee in Oxon Hill, Md., Thursday, May 30, 2019. She spelled the word correctly and she and seven other spellers will share the 2019 championship. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)Erin Howard, 14, of Huntsville, Ala., reacts as she prepares to spell her final word as she competes in the finals of the 2019 Scripps National Spelling Bee in Oxon Hill, Md., Thursday, May 30, 2019. She spelled the word correctly and she and seven other spellers will share the 2019 championship. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Erin Howard, 14, of Huntsville, Ala., reacts as she prepares to spell her final word as she competes in the finals of the 2019 Scripps National Spelling Bee in Oxon Hill, Md., Thursday, May 30, 2019. She spelled the word correctly and she and seven other spellers will share the 2019 championship. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

The event ended in an unprescidented eight-way tie in the US last night.

If you fancy seeing whether you could hack it in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in the US here are some of the toughest words that came up.

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VARSOVIENNE: A graceful dance similar to a mazurka. Simone Kaplan of Davie, Florida, displayed an impressive depth of root knowledge when she asked: ‘Is this most likely from the Latin place name Varsovia, meaning Warsaw?’ She spelled the word correctly.

MARMENNILL: A fabled marine male creature usually represented as having the head, trunk, and arms of a man and a lower part like the tail of a fish. The word sounds like it has a ‘t’ in it, but it doesn't. Navneeth Murali knew that and spelled it correctly.

MACCLESFIELD: A silk with small all-over patterns used especially for neckties. Christopher Serrao of Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, spelled it correctly.

KIRILLITSA: The alphabet based principally on the Greek uncials that was originally used for writing Old Church Slavonic. Shruthika Padhy of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, spelled it correctly.

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KULA: A Melanesian inter-island system of exchange. Nidhi Vadlamudi of Santa Clara, California, spelled it incorrectly, going with the homonym ‘kulah’.

AUFGABE: A task or exercise, especially when assigned experimentally. Rishik Gandhasri of San Jose, California, spelled it correctly.

RIJSTTAFEL: An Indonesian midday meal consisting chiefly of rice. Blake Bouwman of Grand Rapids, Michigan, spelled it correctly.

VIBRATIUNCLE: A slight vibration. Hephzibah Sujoe of Fort Worth, Texas, spelled it correctly.

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