3-Letter Scrabble Words: High-Scoring Lists and How to Use Them

Two-letter words get all the attention, but three-letter words are where everyday Scrabble games are won. They score well on premium squares, fit into tight spaces, and are the building blocks of hooks (adding a letter to an existing word). Our dictionary contains 1,311 three-letter words. You don't need all of them. This guide picks out the ones that make the biggest difference.

Start with the power tiles

Three-letter words with J, Q, X or Z are worth learning first. Each of those tiles is worth 8 or 10 points in Scrabble, so a three-letter word on a triple-word square can easily score 30 to 60 points.

With Z (10 points)

ADZ, AZO, BEZ, BIZ, COZ, CUZ, FEZ, FIZ, LUZ, REZ, SAZ, WIZ, ZAG, ZAP, ZAS, ZAX, ZEA, ZED, ZEE, ZEK, ZEL, ZEP, ZHO, ZIG, ZIN, ZIP, ZIT, ZOA, ZOO, ZOS, ZUZ, ZZZ

The friendliest are ZAP, ZIP, ZOO, ZED and ZEE because they use common letters. ZAX (a tool for cutting roof slates) combines Z and X: 18 points before any premium squares.

With X (8 points)

AXE, BOX, COX, DEX, DUX, EXO, FAX, FIX, FOX, HEX, LAX, LEX, LOX, LUX, MAX, MIX, NIX, OXO, OXY, PAX, PIX, POX, PYX, RAX, REX, SAX, SIX, SOX, TAX, TIX, TUX, VEX, VOX, WAX, XIS, YEX

Remember that the X also makes five two-letter words (AX, EX, OX, XI, XU), so it's easy to place in two directions at once.

With J (8 points)

JAB, JAG, JAM, JAR, JAW, JAY, JEE, JET, JIB, JIG, JIN, JOB, JOE, JOG, JOT, JOW, JOY, JUG, JUN, JUS, JUT, HAJ, RAJ, TAJ

The J is harder to place than X or Z because it doesn't form many short words. HAJ, RAJ and TAJ are useful because the J goes at the end, which opens different board positions.

With Q (10 points)

QAT, QIN, QIS, QUA, SUQ

Four of these five don't need a U. If you hold the Q, also check our full list of Q words without U.

With K (5 points)

AUK, ELK, ILK, INK, IRK, KEG, KEY, KID, KIN, KIP, KIT, KOI, OAK, SKA, SKI, SKY, TSK, UKE, WOK, YAK, YUK

TSK has no vowels at all, which makes it a lifesaver when your rack is all consonants.

Vowel dumps: three-letter words heavy in vowels

Too many vowels is one of the most common rack problems. These words help you play two or three vowels at once:

Pattern	Words
All vowels	EAU, AUE
Two vowels + common consonant	AIL, AIT, EAN, EON, OAR, OAT, ONE, ORE, OUR, OUT, TOE, TEA, USE
Double vowels	AAH, BAA, EEK, OOT, OOR, OOS, WEE, ZOO
Starting and ending with a vowel	AGE, ACE, APE, EKE, EWE, OBE, OBO, ODE, UKE, UTE

EAU (water, as in "eau de cologne") is the one to remember. It clears three vowels in one move.

Consonant-only words

When you have the opposite problem, these three-letter words contain no A, E, I, O or U:

BRR, CWM, HMM, NTH, PHT, PST, SHH, TSK, ZZZ

CWM (a bowl-shaped valley, from Welsh) is a classic. Words using Y as the only vowel also help: SKY, SPY, SHY, SLY, FLY, FRY, TRY, WHY, GYM, PYX, WYN.

Hooks: making new words from old ones

A hook is a letter you add to the front or back of a word already on the board. Three-letter words are full of them. For example, using common words:

Base word	Front hooks	Back hooks
EAT	BEAT, FEAT, HEAT, MEAT, NEAT, PEAT, SEAT, TEAT	EATS, EATH
ONE	BONE, CONE, DONE, GONE, HONE, LONE, NONE, PONE, TONE, ZONE	ONER, ONES
EAR	BEAR, DEAR, FEAR, GEAR, HEAR, NEAR, PEAR, REAR, SEAR, TEAR, WEAR, YEAR	EARD, EARL, EARN, EARS
HE	CHE, SHE, THE	HEH, HEM, HEN, HEP, HER, HES, HET, HEW, HEX, HEY

A hook lets you play a word perpendicular to an existing one while also scoring the extended word. It's one of the easiest ways to add 10 to 20 points to an ordinary turn.

How to practise

Learn the Z, X and J lists first, a few words per day.
Learn the vowel dumps next. They save you from exchanging tiles.
Pick one common three-letter word per day and list every hook you can think of. Check yourself with the word finder: set the length to 4 and the "contains" filter to your base word.

When you're comfortable, move on to two-letter words if you haven't already, then high-scoring J, Q, X and Z plays.

A note on dictionaries: our list follows the international Collins word list. Some of the rarer words here aren't accepted in North American tournament play, so check any unfamiliar word if you play under NWL rules. Our guide to Scrabble dictionaries explains the difference.