Two letter Scrabble words

Two letter X words

X is probably the best possible letter you can get in Scrabble - why? There's a two letter word that you can make with X and any other vowel!

AX, EX, XI, OX, and XU are all valid X words that can all be made - making it possibly the most easy to use letter. If you remember no other two letter combinations, then remember the X - they're all worth high points and if you overlap them on a parallel play and you can score very high points. Here's a hint for the more obscure options - XU is a type of old Vietnamese currency, and XI is a greek letter!

For example: Playing X on a triple-letter score to make AX and also OX will net you 50 points! Not only do you only use two of your letters, but you will drive your opponent crazy. Remember: psychological warfare is just as important as the number of points you score!

Two letter words with no consonants or no vowels

The second most useful list of two letter words are those that only use vowels - those words without consonants!

AA might be the easiest to remember, but there's also AI (a word for a three-toed sloth) and OE. None of these will score many points due to vowels being worth less, but they're a great way to get rid of extra tiles while making new words without sacrificing a turn to swap out for different ones. Stick with easy to remember common words like AB - Short for 'abdominal muscle'!

Using only consonants to make words is always tricky, but it's doable: there's only two - SH and SI. However, if you have an S tile using it to make such a short word as SH SI is a waste. Save your S to make something else, it's worth way more points.

Adding S to the end or start of another word is a much better use of that letter, so unless it's the last play of the game you can ignore SH.

Two letter words with Z

There's only one 2-character word starting with Z: Za. It's worth 11 Points in Scrabble and Words with Friends. If anyone questions you, it's short for 'pizza'! I've never heard anyone use this in real life, but you can still play it safe in the knowledge that it is correct.

Other letters

The official tournament and club word list has 100+ words. Here's a selection.

Q: You're in luck! You can use the word QI. It's tied for first place as one of the best scoring 2-letter words, worth 11 points. The basic meaning is the concept of "life force" in Chinese medicine. As 'I' is a very common vowel this means that not only is it good for larger points, but it's also easy to place on the board. Otherwise, Q is one of the worst tiles in the board game - on average it results in a player losing points because it's so hard to use. If you learn some Q words without U, the Q tile can be really useful.

C - There's none. In most Scrabble dictionaries including TWL and Collins scrabble words (CSW), C cannot make a 2-letter word.

V - There are no two letter words with V! V is a notoriously difficult figure to use when you're stuck with it, but there's only two in the tile bag so they don't turn up too frequently.

P - Here's a funny one. PO is a word that means "Chamber pot". Memorable, and disgusting!

K - KA, a word for the spirit or soul in Egyptian culture.

The most common words made with two characters are OF, IN, and TO. They're easily recognised and used every day in normal speech and written language, and probably not a surprise to anyone. However, OF is pretty useful when the F tile is worth five points. When combined with a bonus square you can make some impressive points from something so simple. When you're making a list of two-letter words, these easy ones should be the first you think of. For the rest, use the Scrabble Word finder.