SHALE is a valid Scrabble word — 8 points
Yes. SHALE is accepted by every list we check: Collins, the North American lists and Words with Friends. It scores 8 points in Scrabble and 8 in Words with Friends.
Which word lists accept SHALE?
| 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 SHALE is to know. It scores 8 from 5 tiles, takes 3 hooks, and its letters make up 6.2% of the bag. How this number is calculated
Hooks for SHALE
Checked against OSPD, TWL, CSW, WWF. Takes an S, so it hooks onto plurals easily.
How SHALE scores
Face value of the 5 tiles in SHALE, before any board multiplier.
Tiles you need
| Letter | Needed | In the bag |
|---|---|---|
| s | 1 | 4 |
| h | 1 | 2 |
| a | 1 | 9 |
| l | 1 | 4 |
| e | 1 | 12 |
Drawing exactly these 5 tiles as an opening rack: 1 in 21,785.
What stands out about SHALE
- 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 SHALE mean in Scrabble?
noun
technical
A fine-grained sedimentary rock formed from compacted layers of mud or clay that splits easily into thin, flat sheets.
Shale forms over long stretches of time as mud and clay settle in still water and gradually compact under the weight of layers above. Because the original particles line up in flat sheets, shale tends to break along those layers rather than in a random pattern, unlike harder, more massive rocks. Certain layers of shale trap natural gas and oil, which is why the rock is drilled and studied closely today.
How SHALE is used
Common technical term in geology, increasingly familiar from public discussion of shale gas and shale oil extraction.
- The cliff face was made of layered gray shale.
- Workers drilled through shale to reach the gas deposit below.
- The shale crumbled easily when she pressed it between her fingers.
- Fossils are often preserved in fine-grained shale.
- The hillside path was littered with broken pieces of shale.
Written for this site: 1 meaning of SHALE and 5 example sentences, not copied from a published dictionary.
Anagrams of SHALE
The 5 tiles of SHALE in a different order — 6 found.
Words starting with SHALE
4 longer words begin with SHALE.
Words ending in SHALE
1 words end in SHALE. Useful as a back hook: play SHALE onto a word already on the board.
Words with SHALE inside
5 words contain SHALE in the middle. Words that start with SHALE are listed separately above, so nothing is repeated.
Shorter words from the letters in SHALE
Showing 40 of 44. See all in the Word Finder
Common questions about SHALE
- Is SHALE valid in Words with Friends?
- Yes. Words with Friends accepts SHALE, where it scores 8 points. That game keeps its own list, separate from the Scrabble dictionaries.
- How many points is SHALE worth?
- SHALE is worth 8 points in Scrabble and 8 points in Words with Friends.
- What does SHALE mean?
- A fine-grained sedimentary rock formed from compacted layers of mud or clay that splits easily into thin, flat sheets.
- What letters can be added to SHALE?
- SHALE takes 3 hooks: 0 in front and 3 at the end.
Every word you can build from the 5 letters of SHALE:
Open SHALE in the Word Finder