Words With Q but No U: Every Short Play You Need

The Q is worth 10 points in Scrabble and Words With Friends, but it's also the tile most likely to sit on your rack for half the game. The problem is obvious: in normal English, Q is almost always followed by U, and there are only four Us in a Scrabble set. The solution is a short list of Q words that don't need a U at all. Our dictionary contains 75 of them. You only need about a dozen to transform how you play the Q.

The essential five

If you learn nothing else, learn these. They're short, use common letters, and cover most situations.

Word	Meaning	Why it's useful
QI	Life force in Chinese philosophy (also spelled chi)	Only two letters; fits almost anywhere
QAT	A shrub whose leaves are chewed as a stimulant	Uses A and T, two of the most common tiles
QIN	A Chinese zither	Uses I and N
QADI	A judge in Islamic law	Four letters with two vowels
QAID	A Muslim leader or chief	Same letters as QADI

QI deserves special attention. It's the single most-played Q word in competitive Scrabble, and it takes an S (QIS) so you can extend it later.

Four and five letters

These are slightly harder to fit, but they score more:

QOPH: the 19th letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Q plus H makes this worth 18 base points.
FIQH: Islamic jurisprudence. Another Q-and-H combination.
WAQF: a charitable endowment in Islamic law.
TRANQ: short for a tranquilizer. The Q goes at the end, which is unusual and handy.
QANAT: an underground water channel.
QIBLA: the direction Muslims face when praying.
FAQIR: a Muslim holy man (a spelling of fakir).
NIQAB: a face veil.
TALAQ: a form of divorce in Islamic law.
QORMA: a spelling of korma, the curry.

Plurals help too: QATS, QINS, QADIS, QAIDS, QOPHS, QANATS and QIBLAS all work.

Six letters and longer

You won't play these often, but they're worth knowing for the occasional bingo or big score:

QINTAR and QINDAR: units of Albanian currency.
SHEQEL: a spelling of shekel.
QWERTY: the standard keyboard layout. Q, W, E, R, T, Y, all fairly common tiles.
QIGONG: a Chinese system of breathing exercises.
QABALA: a spelling of kabbalah.
QASIDA: a classical Arabic poem.
QAWWAL: a singer of qawwali music.
YAQONA: the Fijian name for kava.

Where do these words come from?

Notice a pattern? Almost every Q-without-U word is borrowed from Arabic, Hebrew or Chinese. In those languages, the sound written as Q in English transliteration isn't followed by a U sound, so the spelling doesn't need one. English borrowed the words along with their spellings, and Scrabble dictionaries accepted them.

That's a useful memory hook: if a Q word looks "foreign" and has no U, it's probably valid.

How to play the Q well

1. Don't panic and exchange right away

Exchanging the Q costs you a whole turn. If you know QI, QAT and QIN, you'll usually be able to play it within a turn or two.

2. Look for an I on the board

QI only needs one letter. Any I on the board with space next to it is an opportunity. If that space is a double- or triple-letter square, even better.

3. Aim for premium squares

The Q is worth 10 points on its own. On a triple-letter square that's 30, and if QI forms two words at once (Q over a premium square, crossing another I), the Q can count twice.

4. Keep a U only if you need it

If you draw a U along with the Q, normal words like QUIT, QUIZ, QUAY and QUIP open up. But don't hold onto a U for several turns waiting for the perfect Q play. A U is a weak tile otherwise.

5. Late in the game, get rid of it

If the Q is still on your rack when your opponent goes out, you lose 10 points and they gain 10. That's a 20-point swing. In the last few turns, play the Q even for a small score.

Check your options quickly

Type your rack into our Scrabble word finder to see every Q word it allows, sorted by score. To study, use the word finder with "contains Q" and see which words come up without a U.

A note on dictionaries

All the words above are in our dictionary, which follows the international Collins Scrabble word list. Most of the short ones (QI, QAT, QIN, QADI, QAID, QOPH, FAQIR, TRANQ) are also valid in North American play. A few of the longer ones may not be, so check before you challenge. See our Scrabble dictionary guide for details.

Keep going

Once the Q stops scaring you, move on to the other big tiles in high-scoring J, X and Z words, and make sure you know all the two-letter words.