What is inside the NASPA Word List 2023, the official dictionary for Scrabble in the United States and Canada: how long its words are, which letters they use, what they score and how they begin and end. Counted directly from all 196,601 words.
E is the most widespread letter: 69.6% of NWL words contain at least one. Pick a letter to see how many words contain it, double it, start with it and end with it.
11.46% of all letters in NWL words · 12 of 98 tiles (12.24%) · worth 1 point
| Letter | Contain | Double | Start | End | Words containing | Share of letters | Value | Tiles |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 54.3% | 0.0% | 5.9% | 1.8% | 106,708 | 7.65% | 1 | 9 |
| B | 15.8% | 0.6% | 5.7% | 0.1% | 31,038 | 1.92% | 3 | 2 |
| C | 31.3% | 0.5% | 9.2% | 2.2% | 61,499 | 4.03% | 3 | 2 |
| D | 27.2% | 0.6% | 5.8% | 9.2% | 53,485 | 3.42% | 2 | 4 |
| E | 69.6% | 2.3% | 3.9% | 9.9% | 136,920 | 11.46% | 1 | 12 |
| F | 10.0% | 0.9% | 3.9% | 0.2% | 19,627 | 1.25% | 4 | 2 |
| G | 22.2% | 0.8% | 3.3% | 7.5% | 43,603 | 2.76% | 2 | 3 |
| H | 19.6% | 0.0% | 3.7% | 1.2% | 38,608 | 2.37% | 4 | 2 |
| I | 58.7% | 0.0% | 3.6% | 0.5% | 115,417 | 8.9% | 1 | 9 |
| J | 1.5% | 0.0% | 0.8% | 0.0% | 2,909 | 0.17% | 8 | 1 |
| K | 7.9% | 0.0% | 1.1% | 0.8% | 15,518 | 0.93% | 5 | 1 |
| L | 39.5% | 4.7% | 3.0% | 3.1% | 77,700 | 5.33% | 1 | 4 |
| M | 22.9% | 1.0% | 5.7% | 1.5% | 44,941 | 2.84% | 3 | 2 |
| N | 48.0% | 1.0% | 2.6% | 4.3% | 94,341 | 6.73% | 1 | 6 |
| O | 45.6% | 2.3% | 3.3% | 0.6% | 89,742 | 6.57% | 1 | 8 |
| P | 23.3% | 1.1% | 8.4% | 0.6% | 45,867 | 2.94% | 3 | 2 |
| Q | 1.4% | 0.0% | 0.5% | 0.0% | 2,835 | 0.16% | 10 | 1 |
| R | 52.0% | 1.4% | 5.8% | 5.6% | 102,295 | 7.06% | 1 | 6 |
| S | 60.5% | 5.6% | 11.1% | 37.9% | 118,866 | 9.55% | 1 | 4 |
| T | 47.3% | 1.8% | 5.1% | 4.9% | 93,073 | 6.55% | 1 | 6 |
| U | 26.7% | 0.0% | 3.0% | 0.1% | 52,415 | 3.27% | 1 | 4 |
| V | 8.3% | 0.0% | 1.6% | 0.0% | 16,398 | 0.96% | 4 | 2 |
| W | 6.8% | 0.0% | 2.2% | 0.2% | 13,285 | 0.78% | 4 | 2 |
| X | 2.7% | 0.0% | 0.1% | 0.2% | 5,252 | 0.3% | 8 | 1 |
| Y | 14.0% | 0.0% | 0.3% | 7.4% | 27,441 | 1.62% | 4 | 2 |
| Z | 4.1% | 0.2% | 0.3% | 0.1% | 8,024 | 0.49% | 10 | 1 |
Each letter's share of all the letters in NWL words, minus its share of the 98 lettered tiles. S is the outlier: plurals make it 9.55% of all letters in NWL words, but the bag holds only 4 S tiles (4.08%). The game rations S on purpose.
Eight letters is the most common length (31,736 words, 16.14%), and the average word has 9.0 letters. The short words that win games are scarce: only 5,439 words have four letters or fewer.
| Letters | Words | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | 107 | 0.05% |
| 3 | 1,085 | 0.55% |
| 4 | 4,247 | 2.16% |
| 5 | 9,476 | 4.82% |
| 6 | 16,706 | 8.5% |
| 7 | 25,473 | 12.96% |
| 8 | 31,736 | 16.14% |
| 9 | 31,229 | 15.88% |
| 10 | 25,028 | 12.73% |
| 11 | 18,735 | 9.53% |
| 12 | 13,515 | 6.87% |
| 13 | 9,323 | 4.74% |
| 14 | 6,102 | 3.1% |
| 15 | 3,839 | 1.95% |
Scores run from 2 to 51 points. The most common is 13 (16,720 words) and the average is 14.7. The top of the list is all Z: RAZZAMATAZZES (51), RAZZMATAZZES (50), PIZZAZZY (49).
| Letters | Word | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | QI | 11 |
| 3 | ZZZ | 30 |
| 4 | ZIZZ | 31 |
| 5 | PZAZZ | 34 |
| 6 | BEZAZZ | 35 |
| 7 | PIZZAZZ | 45 |
| 8 | PIZZAZZY | 49 |
| 9 | PIZZAZZES | 47 |
| 10 | RAZZMATAZZ | 48 |
| 11 | RAZZAMATAZZ | 49 |
| 12 | RAZZMATAZZES | 50 |
| 13 | RAZZAMATAZZES | 51 |
| 14 | QUIZZICALITIES | 43 |
| 15 | NEBUCHADNEZZARS | 41 |
The 25 most common opening and closing letter groups, counted over words longer than the group. RE- opens 7,340 words; -ING closes 14,081.
62
words use Q with no U after it. Short ones worth knowing:
BUQSHA · BURQA · BURQAS · CINQ · CINQS · FAQIR · FAQIRS · NIQAAB · NIQAB · NIQABS · QABALA · QADI · QADIS · QAID · QAIDS · QAJAQ · QAJAQS · QANAT · QANATS · QAPIK · QAPIKS · QAT · QATS · QI
139
words have none of the five vowels; 30 of them have no Y either. The longest:
GLYCYLS · RHYTHMS · TSKTSKS · CRWTHS · CRYPTS · FLYBYS · FLYSCH · GHYLLS · GLYCYL · GLYPHS · GRRRLS · LYMPHS
2,248
words use A, E, I, O and U at least once. The shortest:
EULOGIA · MIAOUED · SEQUOIA · ABOIDEAU · ABOITEAU · AEQUORIN · AEROBIUM · AGOUTIES · CAESIOUS · DIALOGUE · EDACIOUS · EQUATION
115
words of three or more letters read the same backwards. The longest:
DEIFIED · HALALAH · REIFIER · REPAPER · REVIVER · ROTATOR · SEMEMES · SLAHALS · DENNED · HALLAH · MARRAM · PULLUP
34,163 words (17.4%) share their letters with at least one other word. These letter sets have the most.
| Letters | Words | Anagrams |
|---|---|---|
| AEPRS | 12 | APERS, APRES, ASPER, PARES, PARSE, PEARS, PRASE, PRESA, REAPS, SPARE, SPEAR (+1 not shown) |
| AELRST | 11 | ALERTS, ALTERS, ARTELS, ESTRAL, LASTER, RATELS, SALTER, SLATER, STALER, STELAR, TALERS |
| EINRST | 10 | ESTRIN, INERTS, INSERT, INTERS, NITERS, NITRES, SINTER, STRINE, TRIENS, TRINES |
| AELST | 10 | LEAST, SETAL, SLATE, STALE, STEAL, STELA, TAELS, TALES, TEALS, TESLA |
| AEINRST | 9 | ANESTRI, ANTSIER, NASTIER, RATINES, RETAINS, RETINAS, RETSINA, STAINER, STEARIN |
| AEGINRST | 9 | ANGRIEST, ANGSTIER, ASTRINGE, GANISTER, GANTRIES, GRANITES, INGRATES, RANGIEST, TASERING |
| AEST | 9 | ATES, EAST, EATS, ETAS, SATE, SEAT, SETA, TASE, TEAS |
| ACEPRS | 9 | CAPERS, CRAPES, ESCARP, PACERS, PARSEC, RECAPS, SCRAPE, SECPAR, SPACER |
| AELPST | 9 | PALEST, PALETS, PASTEL, PETALS, PLATES, PLEATS, SEPTAL, STAPLE, TEPALS |
| AELRS | 8 | ARLES, EARLS, LARES, LASER, LEARS, RALES, REALS, SERAL |
The 100-tile English set: 98 lettered tiles and 2 blanks, worth 187 points in all. The small number on each tile is its value; the line below is how many are in the bag.