GENA is valid in Collins, not in North America — 5 points
It depends on the list you play by. GENA is in Collins, used in the UK and most of the world, but it is not in the North American lists — so in a US or Canadian game an opponent can challenge it off the board. Worth 5 points. Words with Friends does accept it.
Which word lists accept GENA?
| Official Scrabble Players DictionaryUSA, Canada, Thailand | Not listed |
|---|---|
| Official Tournament and Club Word ListUSA, Canada, Thailand | Not listed |
| Collins Scrabble WordsEnglish in most countries | Valid |
| Words with FriendsZynga word list | Valid |
Word power: 36 / 100
Our own measure of how useful GENA is to know. It scores 5 from 4 tiles, takes 2 hooks, and its letters make up 7.5% of the bag. How this number is calculated
Hooks for GENA
Checked against OSPD, TWL, CSW, WWF. Takes an S, so it hooks onto plurals easily.
How GENA scores
Face value of the 4 tiles in GENA, before any board multiplier.
Tiles you need
| Letter | Needed | In the bag |
|---|---|---|
| g | 1 | 3 |
| e | 1 | 12 |
| n | 1 | 6 |
| a | 1 | 9 |
Drawing exactly these 4 tiles as an opening rack: 1 in 2,017.
What stands out about GENA
- The same 4 tiles also spell 4 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 GENA mean in Scrabble?
noun
technicalzoology
The cheek, or in insects and other arthropods, the hardened side part of the head below the eyes.
Gena is the anatomical name used by scientists for the cheek area, most often applied to the side of an insect head, where it forms part of the hard outer skeleton next to the eye. Medical and biological writing sometimes uses the same word for the human cheek, but the insect sense is the more common technical use.
How GENA is used
A specialist term found in anatomy and entomology rather than everyday speech.
- The beetle identification guide describes the shape of the gena.
- A scar ran along the gena of the specimen.
- Entomologists measured the width of the gena under a microscope.
- The textbook diagram labels the gena next to the compound eye.
- Some species can be told apart only by differences in the gena.
Written for this site: 1 meaning of GENA and 5 example sentences, not copied from a published dictionary.
Anagrams of GENA
The 4 tiles of GENA in a different order — 4 found.
Words starting with GENA
4 longer words begin with GENA.
Words ending in GENA
1 words end in GENA. Useful as a back hook: play GENA onto a word already on the board.
Words with GENA inside
Showing 24 of 91 words that contain GENA somewhere in the middle. Words that start with GENA are listed separately above, so nothing is repeated.
Shorter words from the letters in GENA
Common questions about GENA
- Is GENA valid in Words with Friends?
- Yes. Words with Friends accepts GENA, where it scores 7 points. That game keeps its own list, separate from the Scrabble dictionaries.
- How many points is GENA worth?
- GENA is worth 5 points in Scrabble and 7 points in Words with Friends.
- What does GENA mean?
- The cheek, or in insects and other arthropods, the hardened side part of the head below the eyes.
- What letters can be added to GENA?
- GENA takes 2 hooks: 0 in front and 2 at the end.
Every word you can build from the 4 letters of GENA:
Open GENA in the Word Finder