As Americans celebrated the crowning of this year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee champion, a new study revealed many adults still struggle with some surprisingly common words. Fourteen-year-old Shrey Parikh of San Bernardino, California, won the national competition by correctly spelling “bromocriptine,” a word referring to a medication derived from ergot that mimics dopamine activity.
While Parikh’s spelling skills earned him a national title, a report from Unscramblerer.com found many Americans frequently turn to internet searches for help spelling everyday words. The study analyzed search data tied to phrases such as “how do you spell” and “how to spell” to identify the words causing the most trouble across the country.
According to the report, the most misspelled words nationwide are bougie, favorite, through, business, tomorrow, because, definitely, beautiful, niece and separate.
The study also identified the word each state appears to have the most difficulty spelling. In South Dakota, that word was “congratulations.” Nebraska residents also struggled most with “congratulations,” while neighboring North Dakota’s most searched spelling was “adios.”
Some of the other unusual state results included Nevada residents searching how to spell “teacher,” Minnesota residents looking up “ukulele,” Washington residents checking the spelling of “fiancé,” and Florida residents needing help with the word “school.”
Several words appeared repeatedly across multiple states. “Beautiful” was the most challenging word in Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, Vermont and West Virginia, while “business” topped the list in Alabama, Maryland, Mississippi and Wisconsin. “Because” was the most searched spelling in Indiana, Missouri, New Jersey and Ohio.
The findings serve as a reminder that even in the age of spell check and autocorrect, some words continue to trip up Americans. Fortunately for spelling bee contestants like Parikh, mastering difficult words remains a skill worth celebrating.




