# Is there a way to get words added to the online Scrabble dictionary? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [November 6, 2014, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-get-words-added-to-the-online-scrabble-dictionary/703832 "2014-11-06T01:42:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-get-words-added-to-the-online-scrabble-dictionary/703832/1 "2014-11-06T01:42:27Z")
I’m playing online Scrabble on my iTouch, and I run into the occasional word that I think should be in the online dictionary (so far my suggestions are meteorite and zen for words that should be in the dictionary). I went to the Scrabble website, but there doesn’t seem to be any method by which you can suggest that they have missed a word. What do you guys think - just leave it alone, or is there a way you can do this? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-get-words-added-to-the-online-scrabble-dictionary/703832/2 "2014-11-06T02:48:38Z")
As John Hodgeman once put it: Scrabble is not a game of words. Scrabble is a game of words which appear in the Scrabble dictionary. There are quite a few words which aren’t in there, and it’s not a matter of words being forgotten about. Every omission is deliberate. If you don’t want to use their dictionary, just go to [dictionary.com](http://dictionary.com) or whatever. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-get-words-added-to-the-online-scrabble-dictionary/703832/3 "2014-11-06T10:05:28Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > […] so far my suggestions are meteorite […] Asking them to add 9-letter words is a fairly huge request. At least, my paper dictionary only has 2- to 8-letter words. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-get-words-added-to-the-online-scrabble-dictionary/703832/4 "2014-11-06T12:55:41Z")
Words of nine to fifteen letters are valid Scrabble words but most of them come up so rarely that the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary doesn’t bother to include them. The only 9+ words are inflected forms of shorter words (i.e., words formed with -er, -est, -s, -es, -ed, or -ing). For home play, longer words should be looked up in an ordinary dictionary if the need arises, or you can check an online resource like [this one](http://www.freescrabbledictionary.com/twl06.txt). For tournament play, they can look words up by computer in the Official Word List (OWL) that has all words up to 15 letters. Trying to add all the 9 to 15-letter words to the Official Scrabble Dictionary would more than double its size. You may have a point about _zen_. It’s usually capitalized, but [The Cambridge Dictionary](http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/zen_1) lists it as a common adjective (as in “It’s very zen”). ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-get-words-added-to-the-online-scrabble-dictionary/703832/5 "2014-11-06T14:18:45Z")
I’ve always been bothered by the absence of “zia”. It is the symbol that appears on the state flag and license plates of New Mexico, and is always used in that state as a single, self-standing noun, the same as cross or star. But dictionaries treat it as “Zia sun symbol”, with Zia being the name of an Indian tribe. Thus, it is one of those words like Realtor, that needs to be capitalized. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-get-words-added-to-the-online-scrabble-dictionary/703832/6 "2014-11-06T14:26:38Z")
This would have been a good thread for the ‘need answer fast!’ tag. ---
**Author:** ![Teuton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teuton/32/3864_2.png) [@Teuton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teuton)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-get-words-added-to-the-online-scrabble-dictionary/703832/7 "2014-11-06T16:50:39Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > Trying to add all the 9 to 15-letter words to the Official Scrabble Dictionary would more than double its size. Whilst this is true, the size on a computerised dictionary shouldn’t be that much of an issue, and perhaps they should make an attempt to put the whole OWL in there. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-get-words-added-to-the-online-scrabble-dictionary/703832/8 "2014-11-06T17:11:02Z")
I am outraged at their oversight of “kwyjibo.” ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-get-words-added-to-the-online-scrabble-dictionary/703832/9 "2014-11-06T22:38:00Z")
I’ve been bitching about the lack of “zen” in the Scrabble dictionary for years now. It’s a word dammit! ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2014, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-get-words-added-to-the-online-scrabble-dictionary/703832/10 "2014-11-09T21:42:35Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > This would have been a good thread for the ‘need answer fast!’ tag. Alas, the ship had well and truly sailed by the time I thought of this thread. It was probably for a shitload of points, too (hey, there’s another word that should be in the dictionary - “shitload”!). > [@Teuton](#): > > Whilst this is true, the size on a computerised dictionary shouldn’t be that much of an issue, and perhaps they should make an attempt to put the whole OWL in there. Why not, says I. > [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > I’ve been bitching about the lack of “zen” in the Scrabble dictionary for years now. It’s a word dammit! It’s totally a word. Maybe not an original English word, but who cares about that at this point? Zen is as much a word in English as Beret is by now.