SWAYL is valid in Collins, not in North America — 11 points
It depends on the list you play by. SWAYL is in Collins, used in the UK and most of the world, but it is not in the North American lists — so in a US or Canadian game an opponent can challenge it off the board. Worth 11 points. Words with Friends does not accept it either.
Which word lists accept SWAYL?
| Official Scrabble Players DictionaryUSA, Canada, Thailand | Not listed |
|---|---|
| Official Tournament and Club Word ListUSA, Canada, Thailand | Not listed |
| Collins Scrabble WordsEnglish in most countries | Valid |
| Words with FriendsZynga word list | Not listed |
Word power: 33 / 100
Our own measure of how useful SWAYL is to know. It scores 11 from 5 tiles, takes 1 hook, and its letters make up 4.2% of the bag. How this number is calculated
Hooks for SWAYL
Front hooks — 0
None.
Back hooks — 1
swaylsChecked against OSPD, TWL, CSW, WWF. Takes an S, so it hooks onto plurals easily.
How SWAYL scores
Face value of the 5 tiles in SWAYL, before any board multiplier.
Tiles you need
| Letter | Needed | In the bag |
|---|---|---|
| s | 1 | 4 |
| w | 1 | 2 |
| a | 1 | 9 |
| y | 1 | 2 |
| l | 1 | 4 |
Drawing exactly these 5 tiles as an opening rack: 1 in 130,708.
What stands out about SWAYL
- The same 5 tiles also spell 2 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 SWAYL mean in Scrabble?
verb
dialect
To scorch or singe, especially of a candle burning unevenly.
Several spellings share this one sense: sweal, swale, swail and sweel alongside swayl, all describing a candle that gutters and burns down crookedly on one side. Beyond candles, the same word can describe scorching more generally, as when a flame catches and singes something without fully burning it. Candle makers and country speakers kept the word alive long after standard English narrowed to scorch and singe. Which spelling turns up in a given text usually depends on the region the writer came from, not on any difference in meaning.
How SWAYL is used
Dialect; describes a guttering candle or light scorching, spelled several ways.
- The candle began to swayl in the draught from the door.
- Wind through the window made every flame swayl unevenly.
- A poorly trimmed wick will swayl and drip wax sideways.
- They watched the last candle swayl down to nothing.
- To swayl was simply what an unwatched candle did.
Written for this site: 1 meaning of SWAYL and 5 example sentences, not copied from a published dictionary.
Anagrams of SWAYL
The 5 tiles of SWAYL in a different order — 2 found.
Words starting with SWAYL
4 longer words begin with SWAYL.
Shorter words from the letters in SWAYL
Common questions about SWAYL
- Is SWAYL valid in Words with Friends?
- No. Words with Friends keeps its own list, separate from the Scrabble dictionaries, and SWAYL is not in it.
- How many points is SWAYL worth?
- SWAYL is worth 11 points in Scrabble and 11 points in Words with Friends.
- What does SWAYL mean?
- To scorch or singe, especially of a candle burning unevenly.
- What letters can be added to SWAYL?
- SWAYL takes 1 hook: 0 in front and 1 at the end.
Every word you can build from the 5 letters of SWAYL:
Open SWAYL in the Word Finder