FLAIL is a valid Scrabble word — 8 points
Yes. FLAIL is accepted by every list we check: Collins, the North American lists and Words with Friends. It scores 8 points in Scrabble and 10 in Words with Friends.
Which word lists accept FLAIL?
| 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: 31 / 100
Our own measure of how useful FLAIL is to know. It scores 8 from 5 tiles, takes 1 hook, and its letters make up 5.6% of the bag. How this number is calculated
Hooks for FLAIL
Front hooks — 0
None.
Back hooks — 1
flailsChecked against OSPD, TWL, CSW, WWF. Takes an S, so it hooks onto plurals easily.
How FLAIL scores
Face value of the 5 tiles in FLAIL, before any board multiplier.
Tiles you need
| Letter | Needed | In the bag |
|---|---|---|
| f | 1 | 2 |
| l | 2 | 4 |
| a | 1 | 9 |
| i | 1 | 9 |
Drawing exactly these 5 tiles as an opening rack: 1 in 77,456.
What does FLAIL mean in Scrabble?
verb
To wave or swing the arms, legs, or another object about wildly and without control, or to strike repeatedly with such a swinging motion.
A swimmer who begins to flail is thrashing the arms and legs without any steady rhythm, usually a sign of panic or exhaustion rather than deliberate effort. The word traces back to an old farm tool named the flail, made of a wooden handle joined to a swinging bar and once used by hand to beat grain loose from its husk. That older sense still survives in descriptions of threshing by hand, even though machines have largely replaced the tool itself. Because the swinging motion looks so uncontrolled, flail often describes distress or chaos rather than purposeful movement.
How FLAIL is used
Used both literally for uncontrolled physical movement and figuratively for a struggling or disorganized effort.
- The drowning man began to flail in the cold water.
- Her arms flailed as she lost her balance on the ice.
- Farmhands once used a wooden flail to thresh the wheat.
- He flailed wildly trying to fend off the wasp.
- The puppet's limbs flailed with every tug of the string.
Written for this site: 1 meaning of FLAIL and 5 example sentences, not copied from a published dictionary.
Words starting with FLAIL
3 longer words begin with FLAIL.
Shorter words from the letters in FLAIL
Common questions about FLAIL
- Is FLAIL valid in Words with Friends?
- Yes. Words with Friends accepts FLAIL, where it scores 10 points. That game keeps its own list, separate from the Scrabble dictionaries.
- How many points is FLAIL worth?
- FLAIL is worth 8 points in Scrabble and 10 points in Words with Friends.
- What does FLAIL mean?
- To wave or swing the arms, legs, or another object about wildly and without control, or to strike repeatedly with such a swinging motion.
- What letters can be added to FLAIL?
- FLAIL takes 1 hook: 0 in front and 1 at the end.
Every word you can build from the 5 letters of FLAIL:
Open FLAIL in the Word Finder