Quickly find out whether a word is valid in Scrabble or not (no spoilers).
WordsRated’s Scrabble Dictionary Checker is a tool that will instantly show you whether or not a word can be used in the game of Scrabble. You can choose between US and UK dictionaries, which are used in different competitions and vary in the list of words they allow/don’t allow.
If you would like to see alternate words you can make with these letters, you can use the Scrabble Word Finder tool. For any other needs related to creating words form letters, use our WordFinder tool.
How to use Scrabble Dictionary Checker?
The interface of Scrabble Dictionary Checkers is simple and very easy to use. In order to check the validity of your word, just follow these steps:
- In the search box, you type the word you want to check for validity
- On the left side of the search box is a dropdown menu where you can choose the dictionary you want to use to check the word’s validity (more on dictionaries later).
- After you enter your word and choose the dictionary, press Enter or click on the magnifying glass icon on the right side of the search box.
- Below the search box, the tool will display the validity of the word you want to check. If the word is valid, the tool will also show you the number of points the word carries in Scrabble.
What is the official Scrabble dictionary?
The answer to this question depends on which part of the world you live in and on which level you play the game, as there are several different official Scrabble dictionaries and numerous unofficial dictionaries in use worldwide.
- The Scrabble dictionary used for home play and school competitions is called the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary, or OSPD. This dictionary was first developed in 1978, and by design, it doesn’t contain words longer than 8 letters but contains definitions of words.
- In the United States, Canada, Thailand, and Israel, the official Scrabble dictionary for tournaments and competitions is NWL (also known as NASPA Word List, formerly known as OTCWL, OWL, or TWL). This dictionary contains all OSPD words and expands on it with words up to 15 letters long.
- The official Scrabble dictionary for all English-language Scrabble tournaments and competitions around the world (except for the four above-mentioned NWL countries) is CSW (Collins Scrabble Words), formerly known as SOWPODS. It is the most extensive Scrabble dictionary, consisting of nearly 280,000 words.
To conclude, we can say that CSW covers the vast majority of English-language Scrabble competitions worldwide, except for the USA, Canada, Thailand, and Israel, which use NWL. For amateur and home play, people mostly use OSPD.
What is the latest edition of the official Scrabble dictionary?
As the language and slang progress over time, natural changes to Scrabble dictionaries are expected. Since the establishment of the first official Scrabble dictionary in 1978, there have been multiple updates, including both the addition and removal of words. As of 2024:
- The latest edition of the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary is OSPD7, which is suitable for home play and school competitions. It was released on November 25th, 2022, and contains words up to 8 letters long, along with their definitions.
- The latest edition of NWL, the official Scrabble dictionary for tournaments and competitions in the USA, Canada, Thailand, and Israel, is NWL2021 (also called NWL2020), released on October 2020 and became official for use on January 6th, 2021. It consists of words up to 15 letters long, including all OSPD words, but without definitions.
- The latest edition of CSW, the official Scrabble dictionary for English-language Scrabble tournaments worldwide (minus the NWL countries), is called CSW22, the sixth edition of the dictionary, released on February 17th, 2022. It contains close to 280,000 words.
How many words are in the Scrabble dictionary?
The most comprehensive Scrabble dictionary, CSW (Collins Scrabble Words), which is the official dictionary for all English-language Scrabble competitions outside of the USA, Canada, Thailand, and Israel, has 279,076 words between 2 and 15 letters long. The latest version of the dictionary, CSW22, has 420 fewer words than the previous edition (CSW19) as it excluded some words considered as hate speech.
CSW has just over 2.5 million letters, with the most frequently occurring letter being the letter E, with 286,761 total appearances, accounting for 11.28% of all letters in the dictionary. Other most common letters in the dictionary are S (9.63% of all letters), I (9.03%), A (7.73%), and R (6.98%).
| Letter | Appears in CSW words | % | Total occurrences | % |
| A | 153,418 | 54.97% | 196,536 | 7.73% |
| B | 43,446 | 15.57% | 47,240 | 1.86% |
| C | 87,870 | 31.49% | 101,909 | 4.01% |
| D | 75,487 | 27.05% | 85,312 | 3.36% |
| E | 193,813 | 69.45% | 286,761 | 11.28% |
| F | 27,014 | 9.68% | 30,277 | 1.19% |
| G | 63,718 | 22.83% | 71,146 | 2.80% |
| H | 58,235 | 20.87% | 63,503 | 2.50% |
| I | 167,473 | 60.01% | 229,626 | 9.03% |
| J | 4,166 | 1.49% | 4,225 | 0.17% |
| K | 22,432 | 8.04% | 23,776 | 0.94% |
| L | 109,813 | 39.35% | 132,986 | 5.23% |
| M | 65,851 | 23.60% | 73,638 | 2.90% |
| N | 135,474 | 48.54% | 170,128 | 6.69% |
| O | 129,589 | 46.43% | 168,460 | 6.63% |
| P | 67,370 | 24.14% | 76,237 | 3.00% |
| Q | 4,243 | 1.52% | 4,285 | 0.17% |
| R | 145,882 | 52.27% | 177,535 | 6.98% |
| S | 172,213 | 61.71% | 244,681 | 9.63% |
| T | 132,938 | 47.63% | 165,869 | 6.53% |
| U | 75,908 | 27.20% | 84,133 | 3.31% |
| V | 22,592 | 8.10% | 23,405 | 0.92% |
| W | 18,708 | 6.70% | 19,531 | 0.77% |
| X | 7,194 | 2.58% | 7,216 | 0.28% |
| Y | 39,249 | 14.06% | 41,054 | 1.62% |
| Z | 11,366 | 4.07% | 12,230 | 0.48% |
In terms of appearances in unique words, the letter E appears at least once in 69.45% of words from CSW Scrabble dictionary, S appears in 61.71% of CSW words, followed by the letter I with 60.01% of appearances.
The average word from the CSW Scrabble dictionary is worth 14.88 points and has a length of 9.1 words. This means that the average letter from the CSW dictionary is worth 1.63 points.
It’s interesting that the shortest words in the Scrabble dictionary, 2 and 3 letter words, are worth the most per letter. The average letter in a 3 letter word from the dictionary is worth 2.09 points, while the average 2 letter word is worth 2.07 points. Compare that to the average letter from the 15 letter words, which is worth 1.53 points.
| Length | Words | Average Scrabble points | Scrabble points per word |
| 2 | 127 | 4.13 | 2.07 |
| 3 | 1,340 | 6.28 | 2.09 |
| 4 | 5,620 | 7.65 | 1.91 |
| 5 | 12,915 | 9.19 | 1.84 |
| 6 | 22,957 | 10.49 | 1.75 |
| 7 | 34,254 | 11.85 | 1.69 |
| 8 | 42,089 | 13.28 | 1.66 |
| 9 | 42,890 | 14.76 | 1.64 |
| 10 | 37,196 | 16.18 | 1.62 |
| 11 | 29,010 | 17.60 | 1.60 |
| 12 | 21,016 | 19.02 | 1.58 |
| 13 | 14,342 | 20.37 | 1.57 |
| 14 | 9,396 | 21.66 | 1.55 |
| 15 | 5,925 | 22.98 | 1.53 |
Can you use a dictionary when playing Scrabble?
According to the official Scrabble rules, which are in force in official competitions and tournaments, looking at the dictionary is allowed only as a means to challenge the word played by the opponent. It’s important to know that the consequence of the challenge is one of the players involved in it losing its turn – if the challenged word is valid in the dictionary, the challenger loses its turn. If the played word is not in the dictionary, the player who played the word removes it from the board and loses its turn.
Aside from challenging the played word, using a Scrabble dictionary is strictly forbidden and is considered cheating. In home variants, players can agree on how and when the dictionary can be used.