Board Game Word Checker
Type a word and tap Check Word. The answer is yes or no against the American English list this page actually loads. The game menu does not switch in an official Scrabble, Bananagrams, or Words With Friends dictionary.
Select a specific game if you want a narrower, game-night style check.
All games
Default setting. Checks every dictionary mode currently available and reports whether any mode accepts the word.
Scrabble-style
Useful for board-game word disputes, but not yet an official Scrabble dictionary check.
Bananagrams-style
Fast tile-game check for common English words. Official Bananagrams rules or house rules may differ.
Words With Friends-style
Mobile word games can use different dictionaries. Treat this as a quick unofficial pre-check.
Related word tools
How to read the result
- Yes means the word is in the selected available list.
- No means the word is not in the selected available list.
- Official branded game dictionaries will be added only when we have license-safe sources.
How the board game word checker works
The word checker answers one question: is this word in the list this page loads? It is an unofficial pre-check for a game night, not a ruling. Scrabble, Bananagrams, and Words With Friends are trademarks of their owners. This page is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by those owners.
How to use it. Type the word. Choose a mode if you want a label on the result, or leave All available word games selected. Tap Check Word. A Yes result means the word is in the selected list. A No result means it is not. Capital letters and punctuation are stripped before the lookup, so Ogle, ogle, and ogle! are the same check. The mode menu lists Common English, Scrabble-style games, Bananagrams-style games, and Words With Friends-style games. Today each of those modes reads the same SCOWL-derived American English file. Choosing a branded-style mode does not load that brand's official word list. The note under the form says this, and the result line repeats it when you pick a single mode.
Worked example. Leave the mode on All available word games, type ogle, and tap Check Word. Ogle is in the list this page loads, so the verdict is yes and the detail line names every mode that matched. Because every mode uses the same file, a yes in one mode is a yes in the others right now. Type za and check again. Za is not in this file, so the verdict is no. That no means "not in this list." It does not mean a tournament dictionary rejects the word, and it does not mean a house rule rejects it. If your table plays by an official list, look the word up there before you score it.
Tips. Use this page when you already have a candidate word. If you have a rack of letters and need ideas, use the Word Unscrambler, which builds words from the letters you have, or the Anagram Solver when every letter has to be used. A word the unscrambler suggests can still come back as no here only if the two pages ever load different lists. They currently share this American English file, so a suggestion from that file will also be a yes here. The reverse is the useful case: a word you invented will be no here even if it looks plausible. Hyphens, spaces, and digits are removed. A check of "well-known" becomes wellknown, which is a different word from well and from known. Check the pieces separately if that is what you meant to play.
What a mode label is for. The labels tell you which kind of game you thought you were checking. They are not four different dictionaries yet. The page says official lists will be added only when there is a license-safe source. Until then, treat every Yes as "in our common English list" and every No as "not in our common English list," no matter which mode name is selected.
Board game word checker FAQ
Is a Yes an official Scrabble, Bananagrams, or Words With Friends ruling?
No. Every mode on this page currently checks the same SCOWL-derived American English list. A Yes means the word is in that list. Official game dictionaries can differ, and this page is not affiliated with those games.
Why do all the game modes agree?
They read one file. The mode menu changes the label on the result. It does not swap in a different word list.
Does capitalization matter?
No. The check lowercases the word and removes anything that is not a letter. Ogle and ogle are the same lookup.
What does a No mean?
The word is not in the list this page loads. It is not a statement about an official tournament list or about your house rules.
I have letters, not a finished word. Where do I start?
Use the Word Unscrambler to build words from those letters, or the Anagram Solver when you must use every letter. Bring a candidate back here if you want the yes-or-no check.