SOWPODS Word Lists

The SOWPODS word lists above are compatible with International Scrabble. International Scrabble is defined as Scrabble played in clubs and tournaments in all countries except the USA, Canada, Thailand and Israel. Major Scrabble playing nations include the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and south east Asian countries such as Singapore and Malaysia.

SOWPODS is based on a word list known as Official Scrabble Words International (OSWI) published by Chambers. The OSWI is a combination of words from Chamber's Official Scrabble Words (OSW) and the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary (OSPD) published by Merriam Webster. As SOWPODS also includes longer words from the source dictionaries it is 246,692 words long.

North American Scrabble is based on a separate word list called TWL98, which contains far fewer words at 168,093. It is based on the OSPD and a word list section for North American, Thai and Israeli players is available.

Hotspots is distributed with SOWPODS by default as a simple text file, which can be replaced with any compatible word list file including TWL98 - see the configuration section for details. As Hotspots can be configured to play Scrabble it is suitable for Scrabble players to hone their skills against a tough computer opponent.

Studying SOWPODS word lists aids the budding International Scrabble player when anagramming. Often as the human mind seeks to make order out of chaos from an anagram, it tends to look for common beginnings and endings, such as words ending in ING or beginning with CON. Consonant and vowel heavy word lists help players make strategic vowel and consonant dumps. Studying these lists for a few minutes a day inevitably leads to a significant improvement in a player's ability to find bonus words, which is extremely important in Scrabble play as players who do not find on average 2-3 bonus words a game seldom win.