What are the best two-letter words to know?

Two-letter words are the backbone of good Scrabble play because they let you hook onto existing words. High-value ones include qi and za (which offload the Q and Z), plus jo, xu, xi, ax and ex for the other premium tiles.

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How to find words for Scrabble & Words With Friends

Q: Is using a word finder cheating?

In a live competitive game, checking words with a tool would be cheating. Word finders are for solo practice, settling 'is that a real word?' disputes, and learning the short high-value words so you play them from memory next time.

Q: How do I enter a blank tile?

Most finders use a question mark or a space to stand for a blank or wildcard. Add one for each blank on your rack. Because a blank can be any letter it hugely widens the results, so use the length and points filters to focus on the plays that actually score.

Q: Which dictionary should I use?

North American Scrabble traditionally uses the TWL list; most of the rest of the world uses the Collins (SOWPODS) list, which is larger. Words With Friends uses its own separate dictionary. A word that is legal in one may be invalid in another, so match the finder to the game you are playing.

A rack of seven letters can hide dozens of words you would never spot under time pressure. A word finder shows you what is possible; knowing why those words score is what turns a lucky rack into a habit. Here is how to use one well — and the handful of short words worth committing to memory.

What a word finder actually does

A word finder takes the letters you hold and checks every possible arrangement against a dictionary, then lists the valid words — usually sorted by length or by points. It is not guessing or using AI; it is a fast lookup against a fixed word list, which is why the results are exhaustive. Think of it as a training partner rather than an oracle: in a live game against another person, consulting a tool would be cheating, but for solo practice, for settling a "that's not a word!" argument, or for learning the words you keep missing, it is the quickest way to improve.

Use the filters — that's where the power is

Typing your letters is only the start. The filters are what separate a wall of results from the one play you can actually make on the board:

Blanks and wildcards. Enter a ? (or a space, depending on the tool) for each blank tile. A blank can become any letter, so it explodes the number of results — lean on the other filters to bring the list back down to what scores.
Starts with / ends with. The board already has letters on it. If there is an open S or -ING you can build from, filter to words that start or end with those letters to find a play that fits.
Contains. Useful when you want to hook through a specific tile already sitting on a triple-letter or triple-word square.
Sort by points, not just length. The longest word is not always the best word. A short word landing a Z or Q on a premium square often beats a long word played on plain squares.

TWL, Collins, or Words With Friends?

There is no single official word list, and this trips people up constantly. North American Scrabble traditionally uses the TWL list. Most of the rest of the English-speaking world uses the Collins (SOWPODS) list, which is noticeably larger and includes many words TWL omits. Words With Friends uses its own separate dictionary again. The upshot: a word that is perfectly legal in one game can be rejected in another, so always match your finder's dictionary to the game you are actually playing.

Try it in your browser

Our Word Unscrambler is free and instant: type your rack, add wildcards for blanks, filter by starts / ends / contains, and rank every valid word by length or by points. Nothing you type ever leaves your browser.

Open the Word Unscrambler →

The short words worth memorising

Elite players are not carrying a bigger vocabulary of long words so much as a complete command of the short ones. These are the highest-leverage words to learn first:

The two-letter words. They are how you hook a new word onto an existing one and score both ways at once. Learn the list. The ones that quietly win games are qi and za — they let you dump the dreaded Q and Z for big points — along with jo, xi, xu, ax, ex, oi and ka.
Q-without-U words. The Q is only a burden if you are waiting for a U. Words like qi, qat, qadi, qoph, qanat and faqir free you from it (availability varies by dictionary).
Vowel dumps. When your rack is all vowels, words like aa, ai, oe, eau and aeon let you shed them and draw fresh tiles.
The J, X and Z shorties. jay, jeu, zed, zax and zit turn your heaviest tiles into points instead of dead weight.

Turn found words into points

Finding a valid word is half the job; placing it well is the other half. A few habits compound quickly:

Chase the 50-point bingo. Using all seven tiles in one turn scores a 50-point bonus. Holding common letter pairs and the classic stems (like SATIRE or RETINA) makes bingos far more likely.
Play two words at once. The biggest scores usually come from a tile that forms a new word in both directions across a premium square.
Defend the triple-word squares. Try not to open a lane to a triple-word score that hands your opponent an easy 30+ next turn.
Balance your rack. Dumping every vowel or hoarding consonants leaves you stuck. Aim to keep a workable mix so you always have a play.

Frequently asked questions

Is using a word finder cheating?

In a live game against another person, yes. Word finders are for solo practice, settling "is that a real word?" disputes, and learning the short high-value words so you play them from memory next time.

How do I enter a blank tile?

Most finders use a question mark or a space for a blank. Add one per blank on your rack. A blank can be any letter, so it widens the results a lot — use the length and points filters to focus.

Which dictionary should I use?

North American Scrabble uses TWL; much of the rest of the world uses Collins (SOWPODS), which is larger; Words With Friends uses its own list. Match the finder to the game you are playing.