Is It a Scrabble Word? How to Check Any Word
"Is that even a word?" is the most common argument in word games. Here is how to check a word quickly, and why the answer can depend on the game you're playing.
The quick way to check
Type the word into the word unscrambler. If it appears in the results, it's in the ENABLE word list, which has 172,463 words. Every word page on this site also says at the top whether the word is valid, with its score in Scrabble and Words With Friends.
Here are some words people often look up:
| Word | In the ENABLE list? | Scrabble points |
|---|---|---|
| EM | Yes | 4 |
| PE | Yes | 4 |
| PROF | Yes | 9 |
| KIN | Yes | 7 |
| DOE | Yes | 4 |
| DON | Yes | 4 |
| VALE | Yes | 7 |
| CHI | Yes | 8 |
| HUT | Yes | 6 |
| REP | Yes | 5 |
| AKIN | Yes | 8 |
| PROM | Yes | 8 |
Which word list does your game use?
Word games don't all use the same dictionary:
- Scrabble in North America uses the NASPA Word List, from the North American Scrabble Players Association.
- Scrabble in most other countries uses Collins Scrabble Words, which is larger.
- Words With Friends started from the ENABLE list and now keeps its own.
- This site uses ENABLE by default, a free list that many word games are built on. Turn on Show more words in Advanced options to add a broader list.
Most everyday words are in all of them. The differences are mostly rare words and new additions.
The rules every word must follow
In Scrabble, a word is not allowed if it is:
- a proper noun, such as a person's name or a place that only exists as a name;
- an abbreviation, unless it has become an ordinary word;
- written with a hyphen or an apostrophe, such as DON'T.
Be careful with the first rule: many names are also ordinary words. If a name has an everyday meaning too, the word may still be allowed, so always check.
Plurals, verb forms like PLAYED and PLAYING, and comparisons like BIGGER are allowed when the dictionary lists the base word.
Words that surprise people
Some real words look made up. EM (a printing measure) and PE (a Hebrew letter) are valid, and both are useful for squeezing a play into a tight spot. The two letter words guide lists every short word like these.
Some words go the other way: they are allowed in the newest official Scrabble dictionaries but not in ENABLE, which hasn't been updated in years.
| Word | In the ENABLE list? | Scrabble points |
|---|---|---|
| QI | No | – |
| ZA | No | – |
| OK | No | – |
| EW | No | – |
If your game accepts these, play them. If you play by ENABLE, they won't count.
When a word is challenged
Agree on a word list before the game starts, so there's no argument later. Then check a challenged word against that list. If you're playing online, the game checks every word for you and won't accept one it doesn't know.
To find the best play your letters can make, try the Scrabble word finder.