PESTO is a valid Scrabble word — 7 points
Yes. PESTO is accepted by every list we check: Collins, the North American lists and Words with Friends. It scores 7 points in Scrabble and 8 in Words with Friends.
Which word lists accept PESTO?
| 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 PESTO is to know. It scores 7 from 5 tiles, takes 1 hook, and its letters make up 6.4% of the bag. How this number is calculated
Hooks for PESTO
Front hooks — 0
None.
Back hooks — 1
pestosChecked against OSPD, TWL, CSW, WWF. Takes an S, so it hooks onto plurals easily.
How PESTO scores
Face value of the 5 tiles in PESTO, before any board multiplier.
Tiles you need
| Letter | Needed | In the bag |
|---|---|---|
| p | 1 | 2 |
| e | 1 | 12 |
| s | 1 | 4 |
| t | 1 | 6 |
| o | 1 | 8 |
Drawing exactly these 5 tiles as an opening rack: 1 in 16,338.
What stands out about PESTO
- The same 5 tiles also spell 6 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 PESTO mean in Scrabble?
noun
An uncooked Italian sauce made chiefly of crushed basil, garlic, pine nuts, olive oil and hard cheese.
Pesto is pounded rather than cooked, traditionally with a mortar and pestle, so the basil keeps its bright green colour and fresh flavour instead of losing them to heat. The name comes from the Italian verb pestare, to pound or crush, the same root that gives English the word pestle. While the classic version from Genoa uses basil, cooks now make pesto from other ingredients too, such as sun-dried tomato or rocket, and simply borrow the name for any similar crushed sauce.
How PESTO is used
A common word in everyday cooking, found on jars, menus and recipes rather than in formal writing.
- She stirred a spoonful of pesto through the hot pasta.
- He keeps a jar of pesto in the fridge for quick lunches.
- The chef made pesto from scratch with fresh basil and pine nuts.
- A swirl of pesto topped the soup for extra flavour.
- They spread pesto on toasted bread as a simple starter.
Written for this site: 1 meaning of PESTO and 5 example sentences, not copied from a published dictionary.
Anagrams of PESTO
The 5 tiles of PESTO in a different order — 6 found.
Words starting with PESTO
6 longer words begin with PESTO.
Words with PESTO inside
6 words contain PESTO in the middle. Words that start with PESTO are listed separately above, so nothing is repeated.
Shorter words from the letters in PESTO
Showing 40 of 48. See all in the Word Finder
Common questions about PESTO
- Is PESTO valid in Words with Friends?
- Yes. Words with Friends accepts PESTO, where it scores 8 points. That game keeps its own list, separate from the Scrabble dictionaries.
- How many points is PESTO worth?
- PESTO is worth 7 points in Scrabble and 8 points in Words with Friends.
- What does PESTO mean?
- An uncooked Italian sauce made chiefly of crushed basil, garlic, pine nuts, olive oil and hard cheese.
- What letters can be added to PESTO?
- PESTO takes 1 hook: 0 in front and 1 at the end.
Every word you can build from the 5 letters of PESTO:
Open PESTO in the Word Finder