The Best Words to Use Playing Hangman

The best Hangman words
If you’re looking to kill a little time using nothing but a pen and paper to entertain yourself and a friend, you have several options. One is the tried and true word game “Hangman.” In the unlikely event that you didn’t learn this game years ago, here’s how it’s played.

One player chooses a word and draws a series of dashes for each letter in the word. The other player tries to guess which letters are used in the word, and the first player fills them in with each correct guess. If a guess is wrong, the iconic image of the stick man hanging from a gallows begins to appear stroke by stroke. Rules on how the hanged man is drawn vary, but this generally allows for a maximum of 10 wrong guesses.

Do you want to defeat your friends at Hangman? Choosing words that are difficult to guess gives you the edge. According to veteran players, the ones listed below are some of the most difficult.

Jazz

It only has four letters, but it’s as tough as nails to guess. The reason why this one is so hard is that it includes two of the letters least used in the English language, namely J and Z. Be hated and feared by choosing this tough nut.

Buzz

This word makes use of the same strategy, and if your friends start to see a pattern, they’ll begin by choosing a Z ending just to see if you’re still up to your tricks. Choose a few easy words before you use this one!

Jazzed

By now, your friend is ready to throw their pencil at you and march off in a huff. Remind them that it’s just a game, while you secretly smirk at your own sneakiness in finding out which words are trickiest because you love to win at absolutely everything. By the way, “jazzing” is also a good choice as is “buzzing” and “buzzes.”

Words with Double Zees

Use your double zee words sparingly, and you can add “fizz”, “fuzz” and “dizzy” to your list, choosing as many permutations as your evil little mind can dream up. But you need more than just zees to make you a winner.

Hajj

As hangman word choices go, this one is absolutely brutal. Its success lies in the double J ending and the fact that unless your hangman partner is savvy about Muslim culture, he or she probably wouldn’t know how to spell it. Unfortunately, there aren’t any other words with a double J ending, so that’s as far as you can go with this one.

Words with a Double F

“Faff,” “duff,” “buff,” and “puff” are words that will expand your strategy of choosing rarely-used and seldom-guessed letters. Once again, feel free to add plurals, put verbs in the past tense, and so on.

Words Containing the Letter X

Do you sigh every time you pick the letter X when playing Scrabble? Turn it into your hangman friend with words like “jinx,” “vex,” and “fox.” Other words with X in them such as “six” may be too easy because they’re frequently used words, so stick with the more obscure choices.

Obscure Words with Unusual Letters

Put the double whammy on your opponents with unusual words that also contain less common letters of the alphabet. Below are a few examples you can place into your Hangman arsenal:

  • Quetzalcoatl
  • Sequoia
  • Asexual
  • Livid
  • Chthonic
  • Zwieback
  • Phylum

Words People Struggle to Spell

If you’d like a whole arsenal of nasty hangman words to make your friends hate you, look no further than words people often misspell. Even if they get several letters right, they may not get the correct answer.

Words with Y as a Semi-Vowel

Most people go into a Hangman game assuming there will be a vowel in the word you’ve chosen. You can use this assumption to your advantage by choosing words that use the letter Y in place of a vowel. “Gypsy” and “rhythm” are both words that will likely frustrate your opponent to no end. You can also try pushing your luck with words like “hmm,” but it really is taking a bit of a chance, and you may just be accused of cheating.

Words Ending in the Letter Q

Choosing words that contain the letter Q will make guessing the word more difficult, but if you really want to take it up a level, pick a word that ends in the letter Q. Warning: if you decide to do this, the person you play with will likely start throwing random objects at you.

Hangman

I’ve left the most annoying choice for last, and if you use this one, you had better have on your running shoes. By now, your friend is already questioning whether he or she wants to remain your friend. This is a good one to use when you’re ready to finish the game since nobody will want to play with you after you use this word.

(Photo courtesy of frankieleon)

Ten Word Games Everyone Should Play

Word games everyone should play

For those wanting to improve vocabulary and spelling, doing so doesn’t have to be all hard work and no play. Word games get our mental juices going as we strive to solve puzzles, beat our neighbors and come up with letter combinations that magically make sense when arranged in the right way.

If you were to search this title on the internet, you’d mostly find reference to word gaming apps, and many of them are really quite good, but on the whole, it’s still the classics that are the most fun. That’s not to say you should avoid the apps. Many are based on the classics, and the ones that set time limits for you to make your move or expect you to find as many words as possible in a given time provide an extra challenge – and a shot of adrenalin. Still, it’s still worthwhile to play some of the classic games from time to time since they can be pure word joy.

Scrabble

This game will always be a classic choice – and trying to hit those double or triple word scores adds an element of strategy. Before you begin, be sure to decide on a dictionary to use as your source. Scrabble specific dictionaries often allow a lot of ‘words’ that aren’t words at all – at least not in the everyday sense. I prefer to use my trusty dictionary set as a reference; if it’s not there, you can’t use it. Of course, that’s just me. Many people are happy to immerse themselves in scrabble dictionaries to learn sneaky new two and three letter words, or a variety of words that begin with the letter Q.

Crosswords

If you don’t have a handy friend to compete against, a solitary word game works best. Crosswords range from the deeply cryptic to the relatively simple, but they’re always challenging. Be sure to use a pencil with an eraser on the back, because there are times when more than one word fits the clue.

Hangman

To play this game the traditional way with pen and paper, you need a real live opponent. There are several app versions, so you can also load it on your smartphone to keep yourself entertained on your commute or when waiting for appointments. There are a number of variations on the theme, but they all involve guessing a word from clues. Every wrong guess sees a drawing of hanged man progressing further – so you have a limited amount of guesses.

Pictionary

This game is best played when you have at least three other people joining in. It’s fun, there’s often hilarity, and you get to practice your language skills – and your drawing skills – simultaneously. It’s been around since 1985, and it’s still going strong.

Spill and Spell

Spill out the letters and see how many words you can make with them. Because you multiply the number of letters used in your word to calculate your points, the longer your word is, the better. A 5 letter word would make you 25 points, but a 6 letter word scores 36.

Word Search

Puzzle books, newspapers, and magazines often offer word search games. Once again, there are plenty of word search puzzles available online. Can you find all the hidden words? Sometimes, it can be quite tricky! On the whole, though, it’s an easy game that tests your powers of observation and your reading skills.

Target

Target puzzles are among my favorites even though they often have me beaten after hours of thought. You really have to think out of the box, and finding all the words hidden in the 9 letters the puzzle offers is truly challenging. You’re given 9 letters, one of which has to be included in every word you make. There’s usually just one 9-letter word hidden in your letter set – but there may be several 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 letter words. How many can you find?

Typing Games

Typing games help you to improve your typing speed, accuracy, and spelling. There are tons of free options online, or you could just set a timer and try your hand at touch typing by copying a random text. Remember – you aren’t supposed to look at the keyboard.

Balderdash

Returning to more sociable games, Balderdash is bound to provoke laughter. At the same time, you’ll learn some pretty obscure words while you try to distinguish fake definitions from real ones. Learning really can be fun.

Words with Friends

There has to be at least one high-tech word game in the bunch, and Words with Friends is a hugely popular option with many celebrities giving it the thumbs up. Basically, it’s scrabble played online, but I’ve been warned that it’s highly addictive. As a natural-born words geek, I’ve been avoiding it because I’m sure all my writing will go down the drain if I begin to play.

Do you know another great word game you like to play? Share it in the comments so we can add it to this list!

(Photo courtesy of Janet Galore)

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