UMAMI is a valid Scrabble word — 9 points
Yes. UMAMI is accepted by every list we check: Collins, the North American lists and Words with Friends. It scores 9 points in Scrabble and 12 in Words with Friends.
Which word lists accept UMAMI?
| 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: 32 / 100
Our own measure of how useful UMAMI is to know. It scores 9 from 5 tiles, takes 1 hook, and its letters make up 5.2% of the bag. How this number is calculated
Hooks for UMAMI
Front hooks — 0
None.
Back hooks — 1
umamisChecked against OSPD, TWL, CSW, WWF. Takes an S, so it hooks onto plurals easily.
How UMAMI scores
Face value of the 5 tiles in UMAMI, before any board multiplier.
Tiles you need
| Letter | Needed | In the bag |
|---|---|---|
| u | 1 | 4 |
| m | 2 | 2 |
| a | 1 | 9 |
| i | 1 | 9 |
Drawing exactly these 5 tiles as an opening rack: 1 in 232,369.
What does UMAMI mean in Scrabble?
noun
The fifth basic taste, a savoury, meaty flavour associated with glutamates and found in foods such as cheese, mushrooms, and cured meat.
Umami sits alongside sweet, sour, salty, and bitter as one of the five tastes the tongue can detect on its own, adding a rounded, savoury depth to a dish rather than sweetness or acidity. The Japanese chemist Kikunae Ikeda identified and named the taste in 1908 after isolating glutamate from seaweed broth, combining the Japanese words for delicious and taste. Foods naturally rich in umami include parmesan cheese, soy sauce, tomatoes, and slow-cooked broths, which is why chefs often add such ingredients to deepen flavour. Monosodium glutamate is simply a concentrated, manufactured source of the same taste.
How UMAMI is used
Umami is now standard vocabulary among chefs, food writers, and diners describing the savoury depth of a dish.
- Chefs add a splash of soy sauce for extra umami.
- Parmesan cheese is prized for its rich umami flavour.
- Umami was recognized as a distinct taste only in the twentieth century.
- The broth's deep umami came from hours of simmering bones.
- Sun-dried tomatoes pack a surprising amount of umami into a small bite.
Written for this site: 1 meaning of UMAMI and 5 example sentences, not copied from a published dictionary.
Anagrams of UMAMI
The 5 tiles of UMAMI in a different order — 1 found.
Words starting with UMAMI
1 longer words begin with UMAMI.
Shorter words from the letters in UMAMI
Common questions about UMAMI
- Is UMAMI valid in Words with Friends?
- Yes. Words with Friends accepts UMAMI, where it scores 12 points. That game keeps its own list, separate from the Scrabble dictionaries.
- How many points is UMAMI worth?
- UMAMI is worth 9 points in Scrabble and 12 points in Words with Friends.
- What does UMAMI mean?
- The fifth basic taste, a savoury, meaty flavour associated with glutamates and found in foods such as cheese, mushrooms, and cured meat.
- What letters can be added to UMAMI?
- UMAMI takes 1 hook: 0 in front and 1 at the end.
Every word you can build from the 5 letters of UMAMI:
Open UMAMI in the Word Finder