Nearly 800 witty entries from around the world made judging this year's Vocabulary Video Contest harder than ever. We and our colleagues at the New York Times Learning Network struggled mightily to choose from among the many creative killjoys, curmudgeons and comeuppances to crown just 10.

Below you'll find our top choices, as well as a long list of runners-up and honorable mentions. At the top of the list is a creative video for killjoy by Erika of Northern Highlands High School, in Allendale, NJ. As always, we chose based chiefly on how well or originally each video showed an understanding of the word and its use in a specific context, and, as always, we were sticklers for the rules. (However, this year, as you'll see, we've also created a special category because two videos missed winning only by failing to follow every rule to the letter.)

Thank you to everyone who participated, and, especially, to the teachers who devoted class time to the project.

Enjoy. We certainly did.

Top 10 Winners

Killjoy by Erika
Curmudgeon by Reese D. and Ellie S.
Finesse by Eric, Jose and Parker
Monotony by Masa K.
Equinox by Caroline K.
Comeuppance by Cassie and Jason
Guffaw by Meghan O.
Pry by Mark C.
Disheartened by Ella S., Henry S., Josie R. and George S. (dog)
Iridescent by Hanna and Millie

Runners-Up:

Hallucination by David

Coincidence by Anna

Quack by Kyle

Buffoonery by Emily W., Serahn B., Hana D. and Diya M. (Kelly)

Mimicry by Priya and Ananya

Braggadocio by Jeremiah T.

Ominous by Janelle M.

Disembark by Jessica

Disembark by Madeline C., Abby H., Madison C., Brittany B., Mckenzie F. and Emily M.

Tessellation by Vasista V.

Dapper by Ty Kennedy

Pugnacity by Campfield H.

Honorable Mentions:

Crescendo by Taylor W.

Narcissist by Jennifer M.

Waffle by Kellsie G.

Wanderlust by Jordan

Killjoy by Adelaide T,

Sloth by Riley, Gretchen and Barbara

Unison by Nicole Lough

Corrosive by Nathan C.

Touchy by Ariel

Dismember by Cayla and Melinda

Strut by Charlotte S.

Dislodge by Sarah S. and Henry S.

Clamor by Alexis, Ashley, and Lilly

Ominous by Katie Williams

Knell by Shelby, Anna, Tatum and McKenna

And Two We Loved That Would Have Won if Only They Had Obeyed Our Rule to Pronounce the Word...

Elixir by Emma
Tessellate by Eliza R.

Want to check out more great student-made videos? See our 2014 and 2013 results.

Judges: Ben Zimmer, Georgia Scurletis and Adam Cooper from Vocabulary.com; Shannon Doyne, Michael Gonchar and Katherine Schulten from The Learning Network.