Words Containing the Letter W

About Words Containing W

Two W tiles per Scrabble set make W moderately rare, and its 4-point value is well-earned by the letter's productivity in compounds and WA-/WE-/WI-/WO- initial families. WORLDWIDE is a compound that doubles the W; WIDOW uses W in both initial and medial positions; WORKFLOW joins two core vocabulary words. W rarely appears at word-end (unlike most consonants), but when it does — ALLOW, BELOW, ELBOW, FOLLOW, RENEW, FLOW, GLOW, SLOW — the OW, EW, and AW patterns make it easy to recognize and predict. The WH- digraph (WHAT, WHERE, WHICH, WHILE, WHO) is another major W-family worth studying.

• •W rarely ends words — but OW, EW, and AW patterns (ALLOW, RENEW, RAW, ELBOW) are the exceptions worth memorizing for board-edge play opportunities.
• •WH- digraph words (WHAT, WHERE, WHICH, WHILE, WHO) form the most common question-word family in English — essential vocabulary for any word game player.
• •WORLDWIDE uses W twice in a compound — when you draw W, check for compound words where W anchors both halves of the joined structure.