BALAS is a valid Scrabble word — 7 points
Yes. BALAS is accepted by every list we check: Collins, the North American lists and Words with Friends. It scores 7 points in Scrabble and 9 in Words with Friends.
Which word lists accept BALAS?
| Official Scrabble Players DictionaryUSA, Canada, Thailand | Valid |
|---|---|
| Official Tournament and Club Word ListUSA, Canada, Thailand | Valid |
| Collins Scrabble WordsEnglish in most countries | Valid |
| Words with FriendsZynga word list | Valid |
Word power: 26 / 100
Our own measure of how useful BALAS is to know. It scores 7 from 5 tiles, takes 0 hooks, and its letters make up 5.6% of the bag. How this number is calculated
Hooks for BALAS
No single letter turns BALAS into another word.
How BALAS scores
Face value of the 5 tiles in BALAS, before any board multiplier.
Tiles you need
| Letter | Needed | In the bag |
|---|---|---|
| b | 1 | 2 |
| a | 2 | 9 |
| l | 1 | 4 |
| s | 1 | 4 |
Drawing exactly these 5 tiles as an opening rack: 1 in 65,354.
What stands out about BALAS
- The same 5 tiles also spell 5 other words, so the rack is worth re-reading before you play it.
Counted from the four word lists we hold, not taken from anywhere else. How we calculate things
What does BALAS mean in Scrabble?
noun
historical
A rose-red to pink variety of the mineral spinel, historically prized as a gemstone and often mistaken for true ruby.
For centuries, jewellers and royal treasuries called this stone a balas ruby, and some of the most famous "rubies" in European crown jewels later turned out under scientific testing to be balas rather than true ruby, which is a variety of corundum. Modern mineralogy separates the two clearly by chemical composition, but the older name balas survives in gemology and in the history of famous gemstones. Because genuine ruby is generally the more valuable stone, the distinction has mattered a great deal to collectors and historians of jewellery.
How BALAS is used
A historical gemological term, used mainly when discussing older jewellery collections and the history of gemstones.
- The crown was set with a large balas long believed to be a true ruby.
- Gemologists later identified the stone as a balas rather than corundum.
- Medieval inventories often listed a balas among a treasury's jewels.
- The museum label explains the difference between a balas and a true ruby.
- Collectors still prize a fine balas for its rich rose-red colour.
Written for this site: 1 meaning of BALAS and 5 example sentences, not copied from a published dictionary.
Anagrams of BALAS
The 5 tiles of BALAS in a different order — 5 found.
Words starting with BALAS
1 longer words begin with BALAS.
Words ending in BALAS
8 words end in BALAS. Useful as a back hook: play BALAS onto a word already on the board.
Shorter words from the letters in BALAS
Common questions about BALAS
- Is BALAS valid in Words with Friends?
- Yes. Words with Friends accepts BALAS, where it scores 9 points. That game keeps its own list, separate from the Scrabble dictionaries.
- How many points is BALAS worth?
- BALAS is worth 7 points in Scrabble and 9 points in Words with Friends.
- What does BALAS mean?
- A rose-red to pink variety of the mineral spinel, historically prized as a gemstone and often mistaken for true ruby.
- What letters can be added to BALAS?
- No single letter can be added to BALAS to make another word.
Every word you can build from the 5 letters of BALAS:
Open BALAS in the Word Finder