PUNJI is a valid Scrabble word — 14 points
Yes. PUNJI is accepted by every list we check: Collins, the North American lists and Words with Friends. It scores 14 points in Scrabble and 19 in Words with Friends.
Which word lists accept PUNJI?
| 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: 39 / 100
Our own measure of how useful PUNJI is to know. It scores 14 from 5 tiles, takes 1 hook, and its letters make up 4.4% of the bag. How this number is calculated
Hooks for PUNJI
Front hooks — 0
None.
Back hooks — 1
punjisChecked against OSPD, TWL, CSW, WWF. Takes an S, so it hooks onto plurals easily.
How PUNJI scores
Face value of the 5 tiles in PUNJI, before any board multiplier.
Tiles you need
| Letter | Needed | In the bag |
|---|---|---|
| p | 1 | 2 |
| u | 1 | 4 |
| n | 1 | 6 |
| j | 1 | 1 |
| i | 1 | 9 |
Drawing exactly these 5 tiles as an opening rack: 1 in 174,277.
What does PUNJI mean in Scrabble?
noun
historical
A sharpened stake, often hardened by fire or coated with poison, set upright in a hidden pit as a trap or defensive weapon.
A punji was typically made of bamboo, cut to a sharp point and planted in a concealed pit so that anyone stepping into it would be wounded by the stake below. The device became widely known through accounts of guerrilla warfare in Southeast Asia, where fighters used rows of punji stakes to slow or injure advancing troops. Because the pits were camouflaged with leaves or grass, a punji trap relied on surprise rather than open confrontation. The word is now used mainly in historical writing about jungle warfare.
How PUNJI is used
Chiefly historical; found in accounts of guerrilla warfare and jungle combat rather than in everyday speech.
- Soldiers were warned to watch for a hidden punji along the trail.
- The museum display included a rusted punji recovered from the jungle.
- Each punji had been sharpened and set at an angle to catch an unwary foot.
- Historians described how a single punji pit could disable a soldier for weeks.
- The guide pointed out where a punji trap had once been concealed under leaves.
Written for this site: 1 meaning of PUNJI and 5 example sentences, not copied from a published dictionary.
Words starting with PUNJI
4 longer words begin with PUNJI.
Words ending in PUNJI
1 words end in PUNJI. Useful as a back hook: play PUNJI onto a word already on the board.
Words with PUNJI inside
1 words contain PUNJI in the middle. Words that start with PUNJI are listed separately above, so nothing is repeated.
Shorter words from the letters in PUNJI
Common questions about PUNJI
- Is PUNJI valid in Words with Friends?
- Yes. Words with Friends accepts PUNJI, where it scores 19 points. That game keeps its own list, separate from the Scrabble dictionaries.
- How many points is PUNJI worth?
- PUNJI is worth 14 points in Scrabble and 19 points in Words with Friends.
- What does PUNJI mean?
- A sharpened stake, often hardened by fire or coated with poison, set upright in a hidden pit as a trap or defensive weapon.
- What letters can be added to PUNJI?
- PUNJI takes 1 hook: 0 in front and 1 at the end.
Every word you can build from the 5 letters of PUNJI:
Open PUNJI in the Word Finder