30 Unusual Words Our Dictionary Actually Accepts

Phpht looks like someone struck several keys and submitted the result.

It is accepted.

Emoji looks unavoidable in modern English.

It is absent.

That contrast is why this page does not describe words as universally “valid.” It identifies 30 unusual spellings that appear in the specific dictionary used by Find the Word.

How the 30 words were checked

I checked every entry against Find the Word English Dictionary v1.0, the site’s fixed ENABLE-based file containing 172,727 entries.

To qualify for this article, a spelling had to:

• appear exactly in the dictionary;
• contain at least three letters;
• use only the stored lowercase A–Z form;
• and strike me as unusual because of its spelling, sound, meaning or length.

Inflected forms count separately when the dictionary stores them separately, but I avoided filling the page with plurals and verb forms from the same root. The 30-word selection is editorial rather than a complete category of every unusual entry in the file.

The full preparation and validation method is explained in How We Check Words.

Sounding real—or fake—does not predict acceptance

I previously published a separate list of 33 words that people supposedly challenge because they sound invented.

Retesting that page produced a much less convenient result.

Only 11 of its examples are accepted:

borborygmus, collywobbles, crwth, cwm, defenestration, fipple, flibbertigibbet, gardyloo, lollygag, phpht, snollygoster

Another 13 contain at least three letters but are absent:

app, bromance, emoji, euoi, hangry, petrichor, photobomb, selfie, twerk, ultracrepidarian, unfriend, vlog, zzz

The remaining nine contain only two letters:

ai, ee, jo, ka, oe, qi, xi, xu, za

They cannot be played under this site’s three-letter minimum, even when another word-game dictionary accepts them.

The consistency check is:

• 11 accepted;
• 13 absent but long enough;
• 9 too short;
• 33 tested in total.

Only one third of the old page’s examples were playable here.

That result changed my view of “fake-sounding words” as a useful category. Appearance predicts very little in either direction. Phpht looks improbable but passes. Emoji looks ordinary but is absent. Qi may be famous in other word games, but it fails this game’s minimum length.

For more examples of familiar spellings that fail, see The Words You Can’t Play.

Eight unusual words containing five letters or fewer

These are the most practical entries on the page because each can be typed quickly.

1. Brr

An expressive sound associated with feeling cold.

It contains three letters and no A, E, I, O or U.

2. Cwm

A steep-sided mountain hollow or basin.

The spelling comes from Welsh and uses W in a vowel-like role.

3. Nth

An unspecified position in a sequence, as in “for the nth time.”

It is one of the few accepted entries containing neither A, E, I, O, U, Y nor W.

4. Shh

An expression used to request silence.

Its spelling records a sound rather than a conventional sequence of consonants and vowels.

5. Psst

A quiet call used to attract someone’s attention.

The dictionary stores four letters: P-S-S-T.

6. Aglet

The small covering at the end of a shoelace or cord.

The object is familiar even when its name is not.

7. Crwth

A historical Welsh stringed instrument.

Like cwm, it uses W where an English reader may expect a conventional vowel letter.

8. Phpht

An expressive exclamation or dismissive sound.

It contains five consonant letters and is one of the least word-like spellings in the dictionary.

These eight entries are not equally useful.

I would expect brr, nth, shh, psst and aglet to be easier to retrieve than crwth or phpht. A short spelling reduces typing time, but it does not make the word familiar.

Ten words that name something unusually precise

Some strange words survive because they name an object, pattern, sound or idea for which ordinary English has no equally compact substitute.

9. Bumbershoot

A humorous or old-fashioned word for an umbrella.

It sounds invented, but its meaning is ordinary.

10. Quincunx

An arrangement of five objects in which four form a square and one sits in the centre.

The five-dot pattern on a die is a quincunx.

11. Syzygy

An alignment of celestial bodies, especially three bodies positioned along a line.

Its spelling contains three Ys and no A, E, I, O or U.

12. Borborygmus

A rumbling or gurgling sound produced inside the digestive system.

The plural borborygmi also appears in the dictionary, but this article counts the base example only.

13. Tintinnabulation

The ringing or tinkling sound of bells.

It contains 16 letters, making it the longest selected word on this page.

14. Gardyloo

A historical warning cry associated with throwing waste or dirty water from an upper window.

It is memorable because the cheerful sound contrasts with the unpleasant warning.

15. Widdershins

Moving counterclockwise or in a direction considered contrary to the usual course.

The word is longer than counterclockwise, but far less common in ordinary conversation.

16. Omphaloskepsis

Contemplation of one’s navel, literally or as an image of excessive self-absorption.

Its meaning is almost as unusual as its spelling.

17. Malapropism

The mistaken use of one word in place of a similar-sounding word, often creating an unintended comic effect.

The error has to involve a word substitution, not merely an ordinary misspelling.

18. Zeugma

A construction in which one word governs two or more others, sometimes in different senses.

For example:

She broke his car and his heart.

The verb broke applies to both objects, but not in exactly the same way.

This group has reference value even outside the game. The words provide concise labels for things that otherwise require a sentence to explain.

Their precision does not make them practical timed answers. I would type cwm before reconstructing tintinnabulation, even though the longer word is more striking.

Twelve words for behaviour, confusion and abrupt departures

The final group contains words whose meanings are often easier to remember than their exact spellings.

19. Defenestrate

To throw someone or something out of a window.

The related noun defenestration is also accepted.

20. Absquatulate

To depart suddenly or leave without warning.

It is an elaborate word for a quick exit.

21. Collywobbles

Stomach discomfort, nervousness or an unsettled feeling.

The dictionary stores the plural-looking form as its own entry.

22. Snollygoster

A shrewd or unprincipled person, often used particularly of a politician.

The spelling is comic; the description is not.

23. Lollygag

To spend time idly or move without urgency.

The dictionary also accepts lollygagged, lollygagging and lollygags.

24. Flibbertigibbet

A frivolous, flighty or excessively talkative person.

At 15 letters, it is one of the least practical answers on the page despite being memorable once heard.

25. Kerfuffle

A commotion, disturbance or argument.

Unlike several entries here, it remains reasonably common in informal modern English.

26. Flummox

To confuse or bewilder someone.

It is short enough to be useful once the double M spelling is secure.

27. Skedaddle

To leave quickly, particularly to escape an uncomfortable situation.

Its sound almost performs the hurried movement it describes.

28. Sesquipedalian

Characterised by long words, or describing someone who uses them.

The word is itself sesquipedalian.

29. Logorrhea

Excessive and often uncontrollable talk or wordiness.

The double R and unusual vowel sequence make the spelling more difficult than the meaning.

30. Gobbledygook

Language that is inflated, confusing or difficult to understand, especially official or technical jargon.

The word sounds disorderly because it describes disorderly language.

Which of the 30 help most in a timed round?

An unusual word earns no extra progress merely for being obscure.

In Find the Word, each unique accepted entry moves the round forward once. A three-letter answer and a 16-letter answer therefore have the same immediate value.

The strongest practical entries on this page combine short length with a spelling that can be recalled intact:

brr, cwm, nth, shh, psst, aglet, crwth, phpht, syzygy, zeugma, flummox

That is not a universal difficulty ranking. A player who already uses kerfuffle may retrieve it more reliably than crwth. Familiarity matters more than novelty.

The longer entries are better treated as vocabulary discoveries than emergency game answers:

borborygmus, tintinnabulation, defenestrate, absquatulate, collywobbles, snollygoster, flibbertigibbet, omphaloskepsis, sesquipedalian, malapropism, gobbledygook

They can score, but rebuilding one under a timer may cost more time than it saves.

A safer rule for strange submissions

When an unfamiliar or improbable spelling comes to mind, use four checks:

1. Does it contain at least three letters?

This immediately excludes famous two-letter answers from games with different rules.

2. Is the exact spelling in this dictionary?

A genuine modern word such as emoji may still be absent.

3. Does it begin with the required round letter?

An accepted entry cannot score in the wrong starting-letter round.

4. Has it already been used?

Each accepted answer counts once during the round.

Those four checks are more reliable than asking whether the word “sounds real.”

The 30 examples on this page are evidence of that: spelling strangeness is not a reason to reject a word, and familiarity is not a reason to accept one.