Dev Shah, a teenager from Florida, emerged victorious in the Scripps National Spelling Bee by correctly spelling the word 'psammophile'.

A 14-year-old from Florida was crowned as the champion of the Scripps National Spelling Bee on Thursday night, following a tumultuous journey in the world of spelling.
Eighth-grader Dev Shah achieved his first victory on his third attempt at the national stage.
In both 2019 and 2021, he participated in the Scripps competition and achieved the 51st and 76th positions, respectively.
Shah, a student at Morgan Fitzgerald Middle School in Largo, Florida, earned the trophy by correctly spelling "psammophile." As a result, he received over $50,000 in cash and prizes.
Some noteworthy words that he has added to his vocabulary from the national bee this year include bathypitotmeter, aegagrus, schistorrhachis, and perioeci.
The Scripps National Spelling Bee has altered its vocabulary questions to increase the difficulty level of preparing for the competition. Additionally, the latest winner of the contest is the 22nd champion in the last 24 years who has South Asian heritage.
His dad moved to the United States as an immigrant.
The Associated Press reported that the individual came to the United States 29 years ago in order to pursue a master's degree in electrical engineering, originating from India.
Shah's sibling is also a junior who is making progress at Yale.
According to Shah's father, his son had an exceptional memory for words from the age of 3 and participated in academic competitions with the nonprofit organization North South Foundation for many years.
Shah had doubts about participating in the national competition just 15 months ago, despite his academic abilities.
Last year, he came in fourth place at the regional spelling bee in Orlando and felt unsure about continuing. However, after dedicating at least four months to improving, Shah's efforts paid off as he won this year's regional competition by spelling "fustanella" correctly. This victory earned him a spot in the national competition in Washington, D.C.
The recent national spelling bee had 228 participants up to eighth grade, and Shah emerged as the winner, beating them all. The runner-up was Charlotte Walsh, a 14-year-old from Arlington, Virginia.
All entries are eligible for the national competition, except for words that have been labeled as outdated or no longer in use.
This report was aided by the Associated Press.