The short version
- A word counts in a game if it is in the word list that game uses: NWL2023 for Scrabble in the US and Canada, Collins Scrabble Words in most other countries, and Words With Friends' own list, which started from ENABLE.
- If a word is in none of them, check whether it is a scramble: GANDOR is DRAGON, GREESY is GEYSER.
- The lists disagree more than you would think: Collins has 127 two-letter words, NWL2023 107 and ENABLE 96.
What people ask us
Between July 18 and October 14, 2026, people in the US asked Google 290 different "is ___ a word" questions that brought up Unscramble ME. We checked the 100 asked most. None of the 100 is in NWL2023, Collins Scrabble Words or ENABLE. But 55 of them are a scramble of a word that is.
| Asked about | A scramble of | Times shown |
|---|---|---|
| ALOSS | LASSO | 658 |
| GANDOR | DRAGON | 597 |
| GREESY | GEYSER | 561 |
| GHIST | SIGHT | 351 |
| GLATE | AGLET | 296 |
| TOPSE | POETS or PESTO | 260 |
| MEALT | METAL | 155 |
| WRIPE | WIPER | 116 |
| BITMUS | SUBMIT | 112 |
| LAVID | VALID | 92 |
Some are neither: CLUME, PLICK, JIVEN and HUMORIC are not in any of the three lists, and their letters do not spell a word that is. Most of these look like letters from a word puzzle: the scramble looks almost like a word, so people check.
Which list does your game use?
| Game | Word list | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Scrabble at home, US and Canada | The Official Scrabble Players Dictionary, 7th edition (Merriam-Webster, 2022) | Leaves out offensive words and words of nine letters or more |
| Scrabble clubs and tournaments, US and Canada | NWL2023, the NASPA Word List | Every word in the book above, plus the words it leaves out; in use since February 29, 2024 |
| Scrabble clubs and tournaments in most other countries | Collins Scrabble Words | The largest list; a new edition came out in 2024 |
| Words With Friends | The game's own list | Started from ENABLE, a public word list, and has added words since: about 50,000 in a 2017 update alone |
| Daily word apps | Each app's own list | Usually everyday words, so a rare Scrabble word may not count |
Why the lists disagree
Here are the three lists as Unscramble ME uses them, words of 2 to 15 letters:
| List | Words | Two-letter words |
|---|---|---|
| NWL2023 | 196,601 | 107 |
| Collins Scrabble Words | 280,887 | 127 |
| ENABLE | 168,551 | 96 |
- Collins is the biggest. It has all but 3,698 of the NWL2023 words, plus about 88,000 more, so a word can be good in a UK game and not in a US one.
- Short words differ most. Collins has 20 two-letter words that NWL2023 does not, such as CH, ZO and OU. ENABLE has no two-letter word that NWL2023 lacks, but it misses 11 that NWL2023 has, including QI, ZA, OK and EW.
- ENABLE is older. EMAIL, ONLINE, INTERNET, BLOG, SELFIE and EMOJI are in both Scrabble lists but not in ENABLE. Words With Friends has added words of its own since it started, so the game may take some of them: for that game, our check tells you what its starting list had.
- Lists change. NWL2023 replaced the previous NASPA list on February 29, 2024, and Collins brought out a new edition in 2024. A word an old dictionary rejects may be fine today, and the other way round.
How to check any word
- Is it a scramble? Type the letters into the box on our home page. If they spell a word, it is at the top: GANDOR gives DRAGON.
- Which game? Each page shows whether the word you typed is in Scrabble US (NWL2023), Scrabble UK (Collins) and the Words With Friends starting list (ENABLE). QI, for example, is good in both Scrabble lists but not in ENABLE.
- Playing a daily word app? If the app turns down a word our page accepts, the app's list is smaller. Try another word.
Quick quiz
Is it a word? Open one to see which lists have it.
QITwo letters, high score
In NWL2023 and Collins, not in ENABLE. A life force in Chinese medicine, and one of the most played words in Scrabble because it uses Q without U.
ZOTwo letters
In Collins only: good in a UK game, not in a US one.
EMAILYou send one every day
In NWL2023 and Collins, not in ENABLE.
PLICKAsked about 412 times
In none of the three lists, and its letters do not spell a word that is.
Where the facts come from
The questions and counts are real searches: people in the US searching Google for "is ___ a word" between July 18 and October 14, 2026 who were shown Unscramble ME (Google Search Console; "times shown" adds up "is aloss a word" and "is aloss a scrabble word"). The word counts are from the three lists as this site uses them. The rest: NASPA on NWL2023, NASPA on the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary, the 2024 Collins edition, and the Associated Press on the 2017 Words With Friends update.
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