Words Without Vowels, and Words That Are Almost All Vowels
Every word-game player knows the feeling: a rack of seven consonants, or five vowels and nothing to hold them together. A small vocabulary of "emergency words" can save the turn. Here is every word in WordJumbler's dictionary that has no vowels, plus the most vowel-packed words for the opposite problem.
Words with no vowels at all
Counting Y as a vowel, the ENABLE list contains only 20 words without A, E, I, O, U or Y:
BRR BRRR CRWTH CRWTHS CWM CWMS HM HMM MM NTH PFFT PHPHT PHT PSST SH SHH TSK TSKS TSKTSK TSKTSKS
Most of them are sounds: BRR (it's cold), HMM, PSST, SHH and TSK. Two are real nouns borrowed from Welsh: CWM (a bowl-shaped valley carved by a glacier) and CRWTH (an ancient stringed instrument). In Welsh, the letter W works as a vowel. NTH means "to the utmost degree", as in "to the nth degree".
Words where Y is the only vowel
If you count Y as a consonant, many more words open up. There are 101 words in our dictionary whose only vowel is Y. The short ones are the most useful:
BY MY BYS CRY DRY FLY FRY GYM GYP HYP PLY PRY PYX SHY SKY SLY SPY STY SYN THY TRY WHY WRY WYN BYRL CYST DRYS GYMS GYPS HYMN HYPS LYNX MYTH RYND SCRY SPRY SYNC SYPH TYPP TYPY WHYS WYCH WYND WYNN WYNS XYST BYRLS CRYPT CYSTS DRYLY FLYBY GHYLL GLYPH GYPSY HYMNS LYMPH LYNCH MYRRH MYTHS MYTHY NYMPH PSYCH PYGMY RYNDS SHYLY SLYLY STYMY SYLPH SYNCH SYNCS SYNTH SYPHS THYMY TRYST TYPPS WRYLY WYNDS WYNNS XYLYL XYSTS
Some longer favourites: RHYTHM and RHYTHMS (the longest common ones), SYZYGY (an alignment of three celestial bodies, which uses three Y's and a Z), NYMPHS, LYMPHS, CRYPTS and TRYSTS.
When you have too many vowels
The opposite problem is just as common. These words use three or more vowels in four letters, or four vowels in five letters, and are perfect for clearing a vowel-heavy rack.
Four letters, three or more vowels
AEON AERO AGEE AGIO AGUE AIDE AJEE AKEE ALAE ALEE ALOE AMIA AMIE ANOA AQUA AREA ARIA ASEA AURA AUTO AWEE BEAU CIAO EASE EAUX EAVE EIDE EMEU EPEE ETUI EURO IDEA ILEA ILIA INIA IOTA IXIA JIAO LIEU LUAU MEOU MOUE NAOI OBIA OBOE ODEA OGEE OHIA OLEA OLEO OLIO OOZE OUZO QUAI RAIA ROUE TOEA UNAI UNAU UREA UVEA ZOEA
Five letters, four or more vowels
AALII ADIEU AECIA AERIE AIOLI AQUAE AREAE AUDIO AURAE AUREI COOEE EERIE LOOIE LOUIE MIAOU OIDIA OORIE OURIE QUEUE URAEI ZOEAE
Some of these are well worth knowing: AIOLI (garlic mayonnaise), AALII (a tropical shrub), OORIE (a Scots word for gloomy), QUEUE (a line of people, and a rare five-letter word with just one consonant sound), ADIEU and AUDIO. Among the four-letter words, EAUX (plural of eau) and AQUA let you play a heavy tile at the same time.
Words with all five vowels
At the other extreme are words that use A, E, I, O and U at least once each. The shortest in our dictionary have seven letters: EULOGIA, MIAOUED and SEQUOIA. With eight letters you get more familiar words such as DIALOGUE, EQUATION, EUPHORIA and JALOUSIE. These are perfect when your rack is full of vowels and you still want a long play.
A rarer group uses the five vowels in alphabetical order, A-E-I-O-U, with each appearing only once. Only six words in our dictionary do this: ARSENIOUS, FACETIOUS, ABSTEMIOUS, ABSTENTIOUS, FACETIOUSLY and ABSTEMIOUSLY. The last two even end with Y, giving all six vowels in order.
Why does English have vowel-less words at all?
Most English words need a vowel because vowels carry the sound of a syllable. The exceptions fall into three groups. First, interjections that imitate a sound rather than spell a word: BRR, HMM, PSST, SHH, TSK. Second, borrowings from languages where W or Y act as vowels, like the Welsh CWM and CRWTH. Third, words where Y does the vowel's job, as in GYM, MYTH and RHYTHM. Word-game dictionaries include all three, which is why they're worth learning even though you rarely use them in conversation.
Strategy for unbalanced racks
- Aim for balance. A good rack usually has two or three vowels among seven tiles. When you play, choose a word that leaves you closer to that balance, even if it scores a few points less.
- Dump duplicates first. Two I's or two U's are harder to use than two different vowels. Words like ILIA and INIA clear duplicate I's.
- Exchange if you must. If no play helps and it's early in the game, exchanging tiles costs a turn but can save the next several.
- Use the board's letters. A consonant-only rack can often play through a vowel already on the board. Try typing your letters plus that vowel into WordJumbler.