NIL is a valid Scrabble word — 3 points
Yes. NIL is accepted by every list we check: Collins, the North American lists and Words with Friends. It scores 3 points in Scrabble and 5 in Words with Friends.
Which word lists accept NIL?
| 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: 34 / 100
Our own measure of how useful NIL is to know. It scores 3 from 3 tiles, takes 3 hooks, and its letters make up 6.3% of the bag. How this number is calculated
Hooks for NIL
Checked against OSPD, TWL, CSW, WWF. Takes an S, so it hooks onto plurals easily.
How NIL scores
Face value of the 3 tiles in NIL, before any board multiplier.
Tiles you need
| Letter | Needed | In the bag |
|---|---|---|
| n | 1 | 6 |
| i | 1 | 9 |
| l | 1 | 4 |
Drawing exactly these 3 tiles as an opening rack: 1 in 749.
What does NIL mean in Scrabble?
noun
Nothing; zero, especially in a score.
Nil is a contraction of the Latin nihil and reached English through scoring, where it is British: American reports say nothing or zero instead. It never turns up in arithmetic, only in results.
How NIL is used
Chiefly in scores and formal reports. British.
- They lost three nil and deserved worse.
- The word nil is contracted from the Latin nihil.
- A nil return still has to be filed.
- Americans say zero where the British say nil.
- Nil appears in scores and never in sums.
Written for this site: 1 meaning of NIL and 5 example sentences, not copied from a published dictionary.
Anagrams of NIL
The 3 tiles of NIL in a different order — 1 found.
Words starting with NIL
15 longer words begin with NIL.
Words ending in NIL
2 words end in NIL. Useful as a back hook: play NIL onto a word already on the board.
Words with NIL inside
Showing 24 of 190 words that contain NIL somewhere in the middle. Words that start with NIL are listed separately above, so nothing is repeated.
Shorter words from the letters in NIL
Common questions about NIL
- Is NIL valid in Words with Friends?
- Yes. Words with Friends accepts NIL, where it scores 5 points. That game keeps its own list, separate from the Scrabble dictionaries.
- How many points is NIL worth?
- NIL is worth 3 points in Scrabble and 5 points in Words with Friends.
- What does NIL mean?
- Nothing; zero, especially in a score.
- What letters can be added to NIL?
- NIL takes 3 hooks: 1 in front and 2 at the end.
Every word you can build from the 3 letters of NIL:
Open NIL in the Word Finder