New Scrabble dictionaries

In the last year the Scrabble people have been very busy updating their dictionaries around the world!

In North America…

Last year (2014) there was a new Scrabble word list published by Merriam-Webster: the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary 5th edition (OSPD5).  This is now the official dictionary for home players of the Scrabble game in North America.

It’s a cut-down version of the Official Tournament and Club Word List 3rd edition (OTCWL3) – the longer tournament list also contains offensive words not suitable for home use.  The 3rd edition OTCWL was written in 2014 but wasn’t approved for tournament use until April 2015.

In the rest of the world…

In September 2015 the 4th edition of Collins Official Scrabble Words (CSW2015) was adopted as the official tournament dictionary outside North America.

I’ve had quite a few requests to add these dictionaries, as many apps are now switching to these dictionaries.

I’ve added versions of these dictionaries to Word Helper as:

  • Scrabble USA: 2014 Merriam-Webster
  • Scrabble USA: 2014 Tournament
  • Scrabble International: 2015 Tournament

It’s been a bit hard, as the dictionary makers don’t always publish exactly which words have been added or removed.  But I’ve made my best efforts, based on the information available to me.

Because of the way I’ve compiled my dictionary, it’s possible that the apps you use might have slightly different words.  If you find a difference, please let me know and I’ll fix it!

All the other older dictionaries are still available to use.

NB. I’ve stopped using the label “home/school” for the Merriam-Webster OSPD, since most apps seem to refer to it now as Merriam-Webster or MW.

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