Scrabble Dictionary Guide: TWL vs SOWPODS Explained
Quick Answer
Scrabble uses two main dictionaries. TWL, now officially the NASPA Word List, is played in the US and Canada and holds 196,601 words. SOWPODS, the nickname for Collins Scrabble Words, is used everywhere else and holds 280,887 words. Which you use depends on where and with whom you play, and it changes which words are valid.
Use whichever dictionary your opponents use: TWL if you play mostly in North America, and SOWPODS almost everywhere else. A Scrabble dictionary is the official word list that decides whether a play is legal, and the game doesn't have just one. It has two main ones, and they disagree on tens of thousands of words. You play a word, your opponent challenges it, and suddenly you're arguing about whether it's even real. The answer depends entirely on which list you agreed to before the first tile went down. Here's how the two compare and how to pick.
What are the two main Scrabble dictionaries?
Competitive and casual Scrabble around the world runs on one of two official word lists, each known by a short nickname.
TWL stands for the Tournament Word List, the standard in the United States and Canada. Its current official form is the NASPA Word List, edition NWL2023, which according to Wikipedia's NASPA Word List article contains 196,601 words. That same edition became effective on February 29, 2024 and added over 4,500 words compared to the previous list.
SOWPODS is the old nickname for Collins Scrabble Words, used in the UK, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and most of the rest of the world. The current CSW24 edition contains 280,887 words, per Wikipedia's Collins Scrabble Words article. So Collins is roughly 84,000 words larger than the North American list.
The relationship is simple. According to the official NASPA wiki, Collins contains almost all of the words in the NASPA Word List plus a large number of other English words from around the world. So the real choice is between the smaller North American list and the larger international one.
How do the two lists differ?
The differences show up most in short words, which is exactly where they matter for scoring. Collins allows many two and three-letter words that the North American list doesn't. The two-letter gap is the clearest example: there are 107 valid two-letter words in the NASPA Word List and 127 in Collins, according to Wikibooks and the NASPA guide to how Collins differs. That's 20 extra short words, and short words drive parallel plays.
| Word | TWL / NWL | Collins | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| ZO | No | Yes | A Tibetan hybrid ox |
| QI | Yes | Yes | Life force energy |
| EW | Yes | Yes | An expression of disgust |
| CWM | No | Yes | A steep-sided valley |
| VELD | Yes | Yes | Open grassland |
| EUOI | No | Yes | A cry of joy |
The pattern is consistent. If a word exists in the North American list, it almost always exists in Collins too. The reverse isn't true. Collins picks up a great many British spellings, dialect words, and short oddities that the North American list leaves out. For a fun corner of exactly this kind of word, see our guide to words with Q but no U, several of which are Collins-only.
Not sure if a word is valid? Check it instantly with our free word finder and stop the table arguments before they start.
Why is TWL now called the NASPA Word List?
If you learned the game a while ago, you might know the North American list as TWL, OWL, or OTCWL. Those all refer to the same lineage of the Official Tournament and Club Word List. The North American Scrabble Players Association took over stewardship, and the list is now published as the NASPA Word List, which is why you'll see NWL and TWL used interchangeably.
The current edition, NWL2023, drew its new entries from the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary 7th edition and from longer words in the Canadian Oxford Dictionary, as Wikipedia's NASPA Word List article explains. Collins has been evolving too. The only change from the CSW19 to the CSW22 edition was the deletion of 419 words judged to be hate speech, and three more were removed for the CSW24 edition. So both lists get revised, and the edition year matters when you're checking an unusual word.
Which dictionary should you use?
The honest answer is to use whatever your opponents use. A dictionary only works if both players accept it, so the social context decides more than personal preference.
Use TWL (NWL) if you play mostly in North America, your club or tournament runs on it, or you're learning and want a slightly smaller pool of words to absorb. The shorter list means fewer obscure two-letter words to memorize, which makes early study less overwhelming.
Use SOWPODS (Collins) if you play in the UK, Europe, Asia, Australia, or most international online settings. It's also the better choice if you enjoy a wider, more flexible game where more of your rack can become a legal play. Collins took over the official international list back in December 2003, sanctioned by the World English-Language Scrabble Players Association, and it's been the global standard since.
If you play online, check which list your app uses before you assume. Many platforms let you pick, and some default to one or the other based on your region.
How does the choice change your play?
The dictionary you use isn't just a rulebook footnote. It changes real decisions at the board.
Short words become more available in Collins. The extra two and three-letter words make it easier to slot high-value tiles next to existing words for parallel plays. If you switch from TWL to Collins, the first thing to study is the expanded two-letter list, because that's where the practical scoring gain lives.
Challenging gets riskier in Collins. Because the list is so much larger, a strange-looking word your opponent plays is more likely to be valid. Reckless challenges that would succeed in TWL often fail in Collins and cost you a turn.
Study targets shift. TWL players focus on a tighter set of bingos and short words. Collins players invest in the larger pool, especially the unusual short words and the many alternative spellings, since those are what separate strong players from average ones. Either way, our roundup of the best two-letter Scrabble words is a good place to start building that base.
Does Words With Friends use either list?
No, and this trips up a lot of players. Words With Friends uses neither TWL nor Collins. It runs on its own proprietary dictionary that overlaps heavily with both but isn't identical to either. A word that's valid in Scrabble under TWL may be rejected in Words With Friends, and the reverse happens too.
If you play both games, don't assume the lists match. When in doubt, test the word in the game you're actually playing. For a fuller breakdown of how the two games diverge, see our comparison of Words With Friends vs Scrabble.
Want to see which words your rack can make? Try our free Scrabble word finder and enter your tiles to list every valid play.
What do players ask about Scrabble dictionaries?
What is the difference between TWL and SOWPODS?
TWL is the North American list, now officially the NASPA Word List (NWL2023), with 196,601 words. SOWPODS is the older nickname for Collins Scrabble Words, used everywhere else, with 280,887 words in the CSW24 edition. Collins contains almost all NWL words plus tens of thousands more, so it is the larger and more permissive list.
Which Scrabble dictionary should a beginner use?
Use whichever list your usual opponents use. In the US and Canada that is the NASPA Word List, formerly called TWL. Elsewhere, and in most international online play, it is Collins. The smaller North American list is a little easier to learn because there are fewer obscure short words to absorb.
Does Words With Friends use TWL or SOWPODS?
Neither. Words With Friends uses its own proprietary word list that overlaps heavily with both but is not identical to either. A word valid in Scrabble under TWL or Collins is not guaranteed to be valid in Words With Friends, so always test in the game you are actually playing.
Is SOWPODS harder than TWL?
It gives you more valid words to play, which can feel easier when searching for a play, but your opponent has the same larger pool and successful challenges get rarer. Competitive Collins rewards a deeper vocabulary, so at a high level it is generally considered more demanding than North American play.
How many two-letter words are valid in each dictionary?
There are 107 valid two-letter words in the NASPA Word List and 127 in Collins, according to NASPA and Wikibooks, a difference of 20 words. Two-letter words matter more than their length suggests because they power parallel plays, so this gap is one of the most practical differences between the two lists.
This article is an independent reference guide. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by the publishers of any Scrabble dictionary, NASPA, Collins, Hasbro, Mattel, or Zynga. Word counts reflect the NWL2023 and CSW24 editions and change with future revisions.