OneAnagram

Words with no vowels

Is that even possible?

English needs a vowel sound in every word - but not necessarily one of the five letters A, E, I, O, U. The words below get their vowel sound from Y (as in "myth" or "gym"), from a syllabic consonant like M or N (as in "hmm" or the interjection "nth"), or in a couple of Welsh loanwords, from W (as in "cwm" and "crwth"). Word game players still call this whole category "no-vowel words" because none of them contain A, E, I, O, or U - which is also exactly the rule OneAnagram used to build this list.

Every word below comes from the ENABLE dictionary that powers this site's word finder. This is the complete set - nothing longer than seven letters manages it, and there's nothing at all at two letters, so the list starts at three.

Why they're worth knowing

A hand full of consonants and no vowels usually feels unplayable - exactly the situation these words are for. They're also disproportionately good scorers: because they lean on Scrabble's pricier letters (Y, H, W, X) instead of cheap vowels, even short ones like lynx (14) and wych (15) outscore plenty of five- and six-letter words built around A, E, and O. If your rack ever looks like a wall of consonants, try running it through the word finder before you assume nothing's there.

The full list, by length

3 letters - 29

pyx15 why12 hyp11 cwm10 hmm10 sky10 fly9 fry9 gym9 gyp9 shh9 shy9 thy9 wry9 wyn9 bys8 cry8 pht8 ply8 pry8 spy8 dry7 tsk7 nth6 sly6 sty6 syn6 try6 brr5

4 letters - 27

wych15 lynx14 xyst14 whys13 hymn12 hyps12 myth12 pfft12 syph12 typy12 cwms11 typp11 wynd11 gyms10 gyps10 wynn10 wyns10 byrl9 cyst9 scry9 spry9 sync9 drys8 rynd8 tsks8 brrr6 psst6

5 letters - 36

xylyl18 flyby16 mythy16 pygmy16 thymy16 lymph15 nymph15 phpht15 psych15 xysts15 glyph14 gypsy14 shyly14 wryly14 crwth13 hymns13 lynch13 myrrh13 myths13 stymy13 sylph13 synch13 syphs13 crypt12 dryly12 ghyll12 typps12 wynds12 slyly11 synth11 wynns11 byrls10 cysts10 syncs10 rynds9 tryst8

6 letters - 21

syzygy25 xylyls19 flybys17 flysch17 rhythm17 sylphy17 lymphs16 nymphs16 psychs16 glycyl15 glyphs15 crwths14 myrrhs14 spryly14 sylphs14 synchs14 tsktsk14 crypts13 ghylls13 synths12 trysts9

7 letters - 3

rhythms18 glycyls16 tsktsks15

Related lists

Looking for more reference lists? See every two-letter word, Q-without-U word, and high-value 7-letter word, or read the strategy guide for tips on getting the most out of the word finder.