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WGPO Official Words (WOW)

Effective Date

WGPO Official Words 2024 (WOW24) goes into effect for WGPO tournaments starting March 31, 2024.

Study Sheet

WGPO is providing a handy study sheet listing all new words from three to seven letters long (no new two-letter words), as well as words added to NWL23 that were not added to WOW24.

Cheat Sheet

Mike Baron and Seth Lipkin have created a cheat sheet for WOW24 which can be downloaded here.

Lexicon Files

WOW24 Full Lexicon

WOW24 Full Lexicon – Alphabetical

WOW24 Additions

WOW24 Additions – Alphabetical

WOW24 Additions – By Length

WOW24 Removals

WOW24 Removals – Alphabetical

NWL23 Deletions Still in WOW24

NWL23 Deletions Still in WOW24

NWL23 Additions Not in WOW24

NWL23 Additions Not in WOW24 – Alphabetical

NWL23 Additions Not in WOW24 – By Length

NWL23 Additions Not in WOW24 – Short Words

NWL23 Additions Not in WOW24 – Long Words

WGPO Lexicon Process

Merriam-Webster (merriam-webster.com) was our major source dictionary. If an NWL entry is in M-W, we accepted it. Otherwise, it almost always had to be listed in at least two of three other dictionaries  we used as sources.  Those sources were American Heritage (ahdictionary.com), Collins English Dictionary (www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english), and Random House Unabridged (www.wordreference.com).

There were two major criteria used:  a) No expurgation, per WGPO member vote; b) removing nonvalid words listed in NWL.  In doing this, we strived to keep changes to a reasonable number for WGPO members to learn and to avoid unnecessary and confusing discrepancies between lexicons.

All words added to the Official Scrabble Player’s Dictionary (OSPD) were added. We did not add any words not listed in NWL.

The committee members are not professional lexicographers, experts in etymology, etc. We are WGPO members who love words, respect the English language, and reject non-words, non-consensus decisions, etc. No member of the committee had veto power, and no words were added or deleted if a significant minority disagreed.

Feedback can be submitted to lc@wordgameplayers.org.