The Winner of the 2009 Spelling Bee

Congratulations to 13-year-old Kavya Shivashankar, from Olathe, Kansas who spelled Laodicean—a word for "lukewarm or indifferent in religion or politics"—to win the 82nd Annual Scripps National Spelling Bee on Thursday, May 28th, 2009. Way to go, Kavya, and congratulations to all contestants!

Check out the words that made Kavya a champion—sign up for a 14-day free trial of our Web site: Merriam-Webster Unabridged.