Contestants at the 2015 Scripps National Spelling Bee don't get to pick their own words — but they do have a few favorites:
"Flibbertigibbet"
A silly or flighty person.
Eesha Sohail (Speller #8), Bakersfield, California
"Quincunx"
An arrangement of five things in a square or rectangle with one at each corner and one in the middle.
Sylvie Lamontagne (Speller #29), Lakewood, Colorado.
"Hello"
Used as a greeting.
Ammy Lin (Speller #131), Baxter, Minnesota.
"Sphygmomanometer"
An instrument for measuring blood pressure and especially arterial blood pressure.
Brennon Lee Cavanagh (Speller #61), Mt. Carroll, Illinois.
"Glockenspiel"
A musical instrument that has a line of flat metal bars of different sizes that are hit with two special sticks.
Joseph Batis (Speller #77), Kokomo, Indiana.
"Fluffy"
Covered with soft material.
Aditya Nadkarni (Speller #66), Aurora, Illinois.
"Babushka"
A usually triangularly folded kerchief for the head.
Srinithi Kanakam (Speller #119), Jackson, Michigan.
"Ouagadougou"
A West African city in Burkina Faso.
Nathaniel Britton (Speller #122), Shelby, Michigan.
"Schnapps"
A type of strong liquor.
Jerilyn Celeste Challenger (Speller # 225), Gallatin, Tennessee.
“Whatever word I spell right”
Gavin knows what's up.
Gavin Buehler (Speller #154), Williamson, New York.
The Bee preliminaries begin May 27 (ESPN3, 8 a.m. ET). The stakes raise on May 28 with the semifinals (ESPN2, 10 a.m. ET) and finals (ESPN, 8 p.m. ET). Follow all the Bee action on Twitter at @ScrippsBee.
Gavin Stern is a national digital producer for the Scripps National Desk.
