Faizan Zaki wins Scripps National Spelling Bee, a year after coming in 2nd

“Éclaircissement” was the winning word, but for Faizan Zaki it spelled success.

The 7th-grader from Dallas won the Scripps National Spelling Bee Thursday, after last year coming in second place on the big stage.

Zaki showed little hesitation as he spelled éclaircissement, which means the clearing up of something obscure, in the final word to win the title of national spelling champ.

Nine spellers made it to Thursday’s final round, from Arizona, California, New York, New Jersey, Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Texas.

This year is the 100th anniversary of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. In that contest, there were just nine participants.

How times have changed. This year, 243 young people competed in the Spelling Bee, which kicked off on Tuesday in National Harbor, Maryland.

Those 243 young spellers made their way to the national competition after qualifying in regional contests in March.

Almost all of the kids who made it to the nationals were there for the first time, organizers said. Fifty-three were in the 2024 national contest while 178 were national first-timers.