NGAI is valid in Collins, not in North America — 5 points
It depends on the list you play by. NGAI 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 not accept it either.
Which word lists accept NGAI?
| 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 | Not listed |
Word power: 31 / 100
Our own measure of how useful NGAI is to know. It scores 5 from 4 tiles, takes 1 hook, and its letters make up 6.8% of the bag. How this number is calculated
Hooks for NGAI
Front hooks — 0
None.
Back hooks — 1
ngaioChecked against OSPD, TWL, CSW, WWF.
How NGAI scores
Face value of the 4 tiles in NGAI, before any board multiplier.
Tiles you need
| Letter | Needed | In the bag |
|---|---|---|
| n | 1 | 6 |
| g | 1 | 3 |
| a | 1 | 9 |
| i | 1 | 9 |
Drawing exactly these 4 tiles as an opening rack: 1 in 2,689.
What stands out about NGAI
- The same 4 tiles also spell 2 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 NGAI mean in Scrabble?
noun
New Zealand
A Maori word for a clan or tribe, used as part of the traditional name of a particular tribal group.
Ngai comes from the Maori language of New Zealand and is placed before a tribal name to identify a group descended from a shared ancestor, in a similar way to how iwi is used for a wider tribal grouping. English writing about New Zealand history and culture borrows the word ngai directly rather than translating it.
How NGAI is used
Regional; found mainly in New Zealand English and in writing about Maori culture and history.
- The word ngai appears in several tribal names across the region.
- Local records use ngai to introduce the name of the founding ancestor.
- Historians explained how ngai marks a group's shared descent.
- The museum display used ngai when describing tribal structure.
- Her thesis discussed the meaning of ngai in Maori naming.
Written for this site: 1 meaning of NGAI and 5 example sentences, not copied from a published dictionary.
Anagrams of NGAI
The 4 tiles of NGAI in a different order — 2 found.
Words starting with NGAI
2 longer words begin with NGAI.
Words with NGAI inside
11 words contain NGAI in the middle. Words that start with NGAI are listed separately above, so nothing is repeated.
Shorter words from the letters in NGAI
Common questions about NGAI
- Is NGAI valid in Words with Friends?
- No. Words with Friends keeps its own list, separate from the Scrabble dictionaries, and NGAI is not in it.
- How many points is NGAI worth?
- NGAI is worth 5 points in Scrabble and 7 points in Words with Friends.
- What does NGAI mean?
- A Maori word for a clan or tribe, used as part of the traditional name of a particular tribal group.
- What letters can be added to NGAI?
- NGAI takes 1 hook: 0 in front and 1 at the end.
Every word you can build from the 4 letters of NGAI:
Open NGAI in the Word Finder