POILU is a valid Scrabble word — 7 points
Yes. POILU is accepted by every list we check: Collins, the North American lists and Words with Friends. It scores 7 points in Scrabble and 10 in Words with Friends.
Which word lists accept POILU?
| 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: 29 / 100
Our own measure of how useful POILU is to know. It scores 7 from 5 tiles, takes 1 hook, and its letters make up 5.4% of the bag. How this number is calculated
Hooks for POILU
Front hooks — 0
None.
Back hooks — 1
poilusChecked against OSPD, TWL, CSW, WWF. Takes an S, so it hooks onto plurals easily.
How POILU scores
Face value of the 5 tiles in POILU, before any board multiplier.
Tiles you need
| Letter | Needed | In the bag |
|---|---|---|
| p | 1 | 2 |
| o | 1 | 8 |
| i | 1 | 9 |
| l | 1 | 4 |
| u | 1 | 4 |
Drawing exactly these 5 tiles as an opening rack: 1 in 32,677.
What does POILU mean in Scrabble?
noun
historical
A French infantry soldier, especially one who fought in the trenches of the First World War.
Poilu literally means hairy in French, and French troops adopted it as an affectionate nickname for the ordinary foot soldier, prized for his rough, unshaven, tough appearance rather than for any polish. The name caught on during the First World War and became almost a badge of honour, standing for the endurance of the men who held the trenches through years of grinding warfare. English writers borrowed the word directly rather than translating it, so it kept its French spelling and sound even in wartime newspapers written for English readers. Today poilu appears mainly in histories, memoirs and war memorials rather than in ordinary conversation.
How POILU is used
A historical term tied specifically to French infantry of the First World War; rarely used outside that context.
- The museum displayed the worn boots of a typical poilu from 1916.
- Her grandfather had been a poilu in the trenches near Verdun.
- The memorial listed every poilu from the village who never came home.
- Letters home from a poilu described mud, cold and constant shelling.
- Historians still study how the poilu endured four years of trench warfare.
Written for this site: 1 meaning of POILU and 5 example sentences, not copied from a published dictionary.
Words starting with POILU
1 longer words begin with POILU.
Shorter words from the letters in POILU
Common questions about POILU
- Is POILU valid in Words with Friends?
- Yes. Words with Friends accepts POILU, where it scores 10 points. That game keeps its own list, separate from the Scrabble dictionaries.
- How many points is POILU worth?
- POILU is worth 7 points in Scrabble and 10 points in Words with Friends.
- What does POILU mean?
- A French infantry soldier, especially one who fought in the trenches of the First World War.
- What letters can be added to POILU?
- POILU takes 1 hook: 0 in front and 1 at the end.
Every word you can build from the 5 letters of POILU:
Open POILU in the Word Finder