British vs American Word Lists
Why COLOUR is worth 8 points in London and zero in New York.
‘COLOUR’ is valid in British Scrabble. It's not in American Scrabble. That single difference is the tip of a large iceberg — the two Scrabble word lists (TWL in North America, SOWPODS elsewhere) diverge on thousands of entries, and casual games like Words With Friends make different choices again.
This guide covers the three main word lists in use, the spelling differences between British and American English, and which list you should learn depending on where and what you play.
The three main lists
| List | Full name | Approx. size | Used in |
|---|---|---|---|
| TWL | Tournament Word List (formerly OTCWL) | 178,691 | Scrabble tournaments in North America / Thailand |
| SOWPODS | Combined (also called Collins Scrabble Words) | 279,496 | Scrabble tournaments in UK, Europe, Australia, Africa |
| ENABLE | Enhanced North American Benchmark LExicon | 172,820 | Most open-source games; WordUnscramble.uk |
SOWPODS is the superset — every TWL word is in SOWPODS, but SOWPODS adds ~100,000 words. Most of the extras are British spellings, obscure British dialect words, and short two- and three-letter words missing from TWL.
Spelling differences
| Category | British | American |
|---|---|---|
| -OUR / -OR | colour, favour, honour | color, favor, honor |
| -RE / -ER | centre, theatre, metre | center, theater, meter |
| -ISE / -IZE | realise, organise | realize, organize |
| -YSE / -YZE | analyse, paralyse | analyze, paralyze |
| -OGUE / -OG | catalogue, dialogue | catalog, dialog |
| Double consonants | travelled, cancelled | traveled, canceled |
| Vocabulary | lift, biscuit, lorry | elevator, cookie, truck |
Which list should you learn?
- Playing casual Scrabble in the US, Canada or Thailand → learn TWL.
- Playing casual Scrabble in the UK, Europe, Australia, South Africa or India → learn SOWPODS.
- Playing Words With Friends → the Zynga list is a proprietary superset of TWL, so TWL knowledge transfers well.
- Using an unscrambler for anagram puzzles or Wordscapes → ENABLE (like WordUnscramble.uk) matches over 95% of what those apps accept.
Notable SOWPODS-only words worth memorising
If you're an ambitious TWL player crossing into international play, these are the SOWPODS-only ‘cheat codes’ — short, high-frequency, high-value:
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| EA | a river |
| EE | eye (Scots) |
| OO | wool (Scots) |
| ZA | pizza (also in newer TWL) |
| QI | vital force (now in both) |
| OB | objection |
| EW | eugh (interjection) |
Regional word lists beyond English
French uses the ODS (l'Officiel du Scrabble). German uses the Scrabble-Turnierliste (STL). Both are as strictly maintained as TWL and SOWPODS, and tournament players use them for their languages exclusively.
Why lists diverge at all
Historical accident. TWL descends from Merriam-Webster's American dictionaries; SOWPODS was created by merging TWL with the Chambers Dictionary — a British reference known for its liberal inclusion of dialect words. There have been repeated attempts to unify the lists; commercial and cultural factors have blocked them so far.
Summary
- ✓TWL (~179k) is North American; SOWPODS (~279k) is international.
- ✓British / American spelling differences drive many of the divergences.
- ✓Casual and mobile games use proprietary lists close to TWL.
- ✓For unscrambling anagrams and puzzles, ENABLE covers 95%+ of what you'll need.
Frequently asked questions
Is COLOUR valid in Scrabble?
Yes in SOWPODS (British / international tournaments), no in TWL (North American tournaments).
Is ZA a real word?
It means ‘pizza’, informal. It's valid in both SOWPODS and modern TWL editions.
Does Words With Friends use TWL?
It uses Zynga's own list, which is very close to TWL but includes some slang and pop-culture entries TWL rejects.
Which list does WordUnscramble.uk use?
ENABLE — an open list that overlaps heavily with TWL and Words With Friends.
References & further reading
- Merriam-Webster Dictionary — general English word validity and definitions.
- Collins English Dictionary — source lexicon for SOWPODS / Collins Scrabble Words.
- Wiktionary — collaborative dictionary with usage notes and etymologies.
- Moby Project (Wikipedia) — background on the ENABLE word list used by our tool.
- See Content Standards for the full list of dictionary sources and how content is reviewed.
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