Not many Scrabble players realize just how important eight letter words are in the game. This is probably because each player has seven letters on their rack, and so they think of a bonus as one where they use up all seven of their letters.
This is true, of course, but if you weave those seven letters around an existing letter on the board, then your bingo is an eight letter word. Even less well-known, is the fact that eight letter bonus plays are actually playable more frequently than sevens! In fact, they turn up about 30% more often.
So if you agree that it's important to learn the high probability seven letter words, then you'll agree that it's even more important to master the most frequently occurring eight letter words in Scrabble. And that's what I've put together here for you...
Which Dictionary Have I Used?
All the words you see in this list can be found in Collins Official Scrabble Dictionary, which is the official Scrabble dictionary endorsed by the World English Scrabble Players Association (WESPA). This is not, however, the official dictionary used in North American Scrabble — here you use the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary.
To help accommodate all players I have color-coded the words appearing with their definitions down below this word list. Words colored blue, are not accepted in North American Scrabble. The other words are playable everywhere. I hope that isn't too confusing.
Oops! There I go again. Rambling on about conventions and whatnots, while you're yelling 'Less TALK, more WORDS!!'. Ok, ok, here they are now...
Top Eight Letter Words (1-50)
Now you'll probably notice that my list is not in alphabetical order. That's because I've put the words in order of probability, with the most likely words appearing first. And since words made up of the same set of letters have exactly the same probability of being drawn from the tile bag, this also means that anagrams, like GRATINEE and INTERAGE, appear together in the list.
And, once you've mastered those, here is the next installment...
Top Eight Letter Words (51-101)
What do all these eight letter words mean?
Finally, just in case you were wondering whether any of these weird looking eight letter words are genuine, here is a brief definition for every eight letter word appearing on this page.
Also, as I promised at the start, I've highlighted in BLUE the words that are not valid Scrabble words in North America.
In other words, if you're from North America, DO NOT play the blue words - the others are fine. Everybody else, learn and play all of them ;-)
ACTIONER
a film with a lot of action [n -S]
AERATION
exposure to the action of air [n -S]
AEROLITE
a meteorite [n -S]
AILERONS
AILERON, a balancing flap on a aeroplane [n]
ALERIONS
ALERION, in heraldry, an eagle displayed without feet or beak, also ALLERION [n]
ALIENORS
ALIENOR, one who transfers property [n]
ANEROIDS
ANEROID, a type of barometer [n]
ANOESTRI
ANOESTRUS, a period of sexual dormancy, also ANESTRUS [n]
ANOINTER
one who anoints (to consecrate with oil) [n -S]
ANORETIC
one affected with loss of appetite [n -S]
ANTERIOR
in front [adj]
ANTIHERO
a principal character who lacks noble qualities [n ANTIHEROES or ANTIHERO]
ARENITES
ARENITE, rock composed of sand grains [n]
AROINTED
AROINT, to frighten away, also AROYNT [v]
ARSENITE
a chemical salt [n -S]
ARSONITE
one who maliciously lights fires, also ARSONIST [n -S]
ASTEROID
a rocky object found in orbits [n -S]
ASTONIED
ASTONY, to amaze or shock, also ASTONISH, ASTONE [v]
ATROPINE
a medicine derived from the deadly nightshade, also ATROPIN, ATROPIA [n -S]
AUNTLIER
AUNTLY, like an aunt [adj]
BARITONE
a deep male voice, also BARYTONE [n -S]
CREATION
something that is created [n -S]
DATURINE
a poison [n -S]
DELATION
the act of delating [n -S]
DERATION
to free from rationing [v -ED, -ING, -S]
DETAINER
the unlawful withholding of another's property [n -S]
DETRAINS
DETRAIN, to alight from a train [v]
DONARIES
DONARY, a thing given to sacred use [n]
DOUANIER
a custom-house officer [n -S]
EARSTONE
a hard mass that forms in the inner ear [n -S]
ELATERIN
a chemical compound [n -S]
ELATIONS
ELATION, a feeling of great joy [n]
ENTAILER
one who entails (to restrict inheritance to a specified line) [n -S]
ENTRAILS
ENTRAIL, to interlace [v]
ERGATOID
worker-like [adj]
ERIONITE
a type of mineral [n -S]
ETAERIOS
ETAERIO, an aggregated fruit like a blackberry [n]
GELATION
the process of gelling [n -S]
GERANIOL
an alcohol used in perfumes [n -S]
GRATINEE
to cook with a crust [v GRATINEED, GRATINEEING, GRATINEES]
IDEATION
the act of ideating [n -S]
IDOLATER
one that worships idols, also IDOLATOR [n -S]
IGNAROES
IGNARO, an ignorant person [n]
INDURATE
to make hard [v INDURATED, INDURATING, INDURATES]
INERTIAE
INERTIA, the tendency of a body to resist acceleration [n]
INORNATE
not ornate [adj]
INSOLATE
to expose to the sun's rays [v INSOLATED, INSOLATING, INSOLATES]
INTERAGE
including people of various ages [adj]
IODINATE
to treat with iodine, also IODATE [v IODINATED, IODINATING, IODINATES]
LARNIEST
LARNEY, of clothes, smart [adj]
LATRINES
LATRINE, a type of toilet [n]
LEGATION
the sending of an official envoy [n -S]
NOTARIES
NOTARY, a public official who can certify documents [n]
NOTARISE
to attest to as a notary, also NOTARIZE [v NOTARISED, NOTARISING, NOTARISES]
OBTAINER
one that obtains [n -S]
ONERIEST
ONERY, stubborn and mean-spirited [adj]
ORDINATE
to ordain [v ORDINATED, ORDINATING, ORDINATES]
ORGANDIE
a cotton fabric, also ORGANDY [n -S]
ORGANISE
to form into an organic whole, also ORGANIZE [v ORGANISED, ORGANISING, ORGANISES]
ORIENTAL
an inhabitant of an eastern country [n -S]
ORIENTED
ORIENT, to acquaint with details of a situation [v]
ORIGANES
ORIGANE, marjoram, also ORIGAN [n]
OUTRAISE
to surpass in raising [v OUTRAISED, OUTRAISING, OUTRAISES]
RANDIEST
RANDY, lustful [adj]
RATIONED
RATION, to distribute in fixed amounts [v]
RATLINES
RATLINE, one of the ropes forming the steps of a ladder on a ship, also RATLIN, RATLING, RATTLIN, RATTLINE [n]
REACTION
the act of reacting [n -S]
REANOINT
to anoint again [v -ED, -ING, -S]
REGIONAL
something that serves as a region [n -S]
REINSTAL
to instal again, also REINSTALL [n -S]
RELATION
an association between people or things [n -S]
REOBTAIN
to obtain again [v -ED, -ING, -S]
RESINATE
to treat with a viscous substance, also RESIN [v RESINATED, RESINATING, RESINATES]
RESONATE
to resound (to make an echoing sound) [v RESONATED, RESONATING, RESONATES]
RETAINED
RETAIN, to keep possession of [v]
RETINALS
RETINAL, a pigment in the retina, also RETINENE [n]
RETINULA
a neural receptor of an arthropod's eye [n -S]
ROSINATE
a resinate [n -S]
RUINATED
RUINATE, to ruin [v]
RUINATES
RUINATE, to ruin [v]
SAUTOIRE
a heraldic design, also SALTIRE, SALTIER, SAUTOIR [n -S]
SEDATION
the reduction of stress by sedatives [n -S]
SENORITA
an unmarried Spanish girl or woman [n -S]
SEROTINE
a European bat [n -S]
SOTERIAL
pertaining to salvation [adj]
STEARINE
the solid portion of a fat, also STEARIN [n -S]
STRAINED
STRAIN, to exert to the utmost [v]
TABORINE
a small drum, also TABORET, TABORIN, TABOURET [n -S]
TAENIOID
like a tapeworm [adj]
TAILERON
a part of a two-piece tailplane [n -S]
TAILORED
TAILOR, to fit with clothes [v]
TAURINES
TAURINE, a chemical compound [n]
TENTORIA
TENTORIUM, a sheet of the dura mater [n]
TENURIAL
pertaining to a tenure [adj]
TOENAILS
TOENAIL, to fasten with obliquely driven nails [v]
TRAINEES
TRAINEE, one who receives training [n]
TREENAIL
a wooden peg used to fasten timber, also TRENAIL, TRUNNEL [n -S]
TRENAILS
TRENAIL, a wooden peg used to fasten timber, also TREENAIL, TRUNNEL [n]
URANITES
URANITE, a mineral [n]
URINATED
URINATE, to discharge urine [v]
URINATES
URINATE, to discharge urine [v]
That's it? But I was just getting into it ;-(
If I just read your mind, you might want to take a look at a helpful ebook dedicated to bonus words (i.e. words that win 50 bonus points in Scrabble). This book, put together by a dedicated Scrabbler, not only gives you a much longer list of highly likely seven and eight letter Scrabble words, but organizes them into a clever system called 'stems' that many expert Scrabble players use.
TIP! Remember, it's not enough to just know these words — you have to be able to recall them in a real game situation. If you're a bit daunted by the thought of memorizing long difficult lists like this one, you might like to check out
how the USA memory champion does it.
This selection comes from an impressive vocabulary program I started playing around with a year or so ago. It's based on a huge dictionary of 150,000 words taken from all the 'big name' vocabulary courses and exams.
Go on. Tickle my whiskers ;-)
