Scrabble Words With Z

By Stephen Lunt 15 FEB 2024

Learn how you can take your Scrabble game to the next level with our comprehensive list of Scrabble words with the letter Z. We’ll go into detail and break down the best two-letter and three-letter Z words, as well as some of our favourite Z words you can use. Additionally, we’ve shared our top tips and tricks on playing the Z tile so you can get the most out of Scrabble’s most valuable letter tile in your next game.

The Z Letter Tile in Scrabble

The Z letter tile is one of the most important in Scrabble as it’s the highest-scoring letter in the game alongside Q which are both worth a total of 10 points each. As a result, this tile can make or break some players’ games as it opens significant opportunities to score a large number of points during your turn. Consequently, if players wish to win, they need to understand how best to use the letter Z strategically and tactically during the game.

The foundation of learning how to play the Z tile well involves having good knowledge of Z words. That’s why we’ve put together our ultimate list of words containing the letter Z for you to browse below and hopefully use to take your Scrabble abilities to the next level. Stay tuned until the end of the article where we’ll discuss our favourite approaches for playing the letter Z which involves utilizing points multipliers.

Two Letter Z Words

In Scrabble, as of writing this article, there are a total of 3 valid two-letter Z words which are allowed to be played according to the game dictionaries. These are “ZA”, “ZO”, and “ZE” as we’ll break down in more detail below.

ZA

Points: 11 (Z: 10, A: 1).
Definitions & Meaning: “Za” is a shortened form of the word “pizza”.

ZO

Points: 11 (Z: 10, O: 1).
Definitions & Meaning: a “zo” is a Tibetan breed of cattle.

ZE

Points: 11 (Z: 10, E: 1).
Definitions & Meaning: “Ze” is a gender-neutral pronoun that is used by non-binary people or a person of unspecified gender. It’s commonly used by people within the LGBTQ+ community over personal pronouns such as “he” and “she”.
Out of all the two-letter Z words, “ze” is statistically the most likely to appear in your tile rack due to “E” being the most frequent vowel in a Scrabble bag.

The word “Ze” played on a Scrabble board

Three Letter Z Words

Thankfully for Scrabble players looking to play a Z tile, three-letter Scrabble Z words are much more common than two-letter ones. There are a total of 50 valid three-letter Scrabble words with a Z at the time of writing this article that you can use.

We’ve listed every three-letter Scrabble word with a Z below from the highest to lowest scoring.

ZZZ - the sound of snoring (30 points). Fun fact: to play the word “ZZZ” in Scrabble, you’d require the “Z” tile, as well as both blank tiles.
ZUZ - an ancient Hebrew silver coin (21 points).
ZIZ - a giant gryphon-like bird in Jewish mythology (21 points).
JIZ - Scottish slang for the word wig (19 points).
ZAX & ZEX - a small axe-like tool for cutting roofing slates (19 points).
ZEK - a former Soviet prison inmate (16 points).
YEZ - alternative spelling for “youse” (“you”) (15 points).
WAZ - short for “what’s” or meaning to urinate (15 points).
WUZ - short for “was” (15 points).
ZHO - a Tibetan breed of cattle (15 points).
WIZ - an expert in a particular field or whistling sound made by fast-moving objects (15 points).
FIZ - a type of soda or hissing (fizzing) sound (15 points).
FEZ - a type of hat (15 points).
POZ - short for “positive” (14 points).
ZAP - to hit or strike (14 points).
CAZ & COZ - short for “because” (14 points).
CUZ - short for “cousin” (14 points).
MIZ - short for “miss” and “miserable” (14 points).
ZEP - a type of sandwich (14 points).
ZIP - to move quickly or type of fastener on clothing (14 points).
BIZ - short for “business” (14 points).
MOZ - slang term for obsolete (14 points).
BEZ - a type of fabric (14 points).
ADZ - a type of tool (13 points).
DZO - a type of domesticated hybrid animal (13 points).
ZED - the letter “Z” in British English (13 points).
ZIG - to move in a zigzag pattern, i.e., a sharp turn (13 points).
ZAG - to move in a sharp turn pattern (13 points).
LUZ - a small bone in the human spine (12 points).
ZOO - a place where animals are kept for public viewing (12 points).
SAZ - a type of stringed instrument (12 points).
SEZ - short for “says” (12 points).
ZIN - a type of wine (zinfandel) (12 points).
SOZ - short for “sorry” (12 points).
RIZ - short for “rise” (12 points).
ZEN - a Japanese school of Mahayana Buddhism (12 points).
REZ - short for “reservation” or a place where something is kept aside (12 points).
AZO - a type of dye or in science, containing the divalent group nitrogen and carbon atoms (12 points).
ZAS - an abbreviation for pizza, in plural form (12 points).
ZEE - the letter “Z” (12 points).
ZEL - a type of oriental cymbal (12 points).
ZIT - a small, inflamed spot on the skin (12 points).
TIZ - a state of nervous excitement or confusion (12 points).
LEZ - short for “lesbian”, considered offensive and derogatory (12 points).
ZOL - a type of cigarette (12 points).
ZOA - meaning a group of animals or organisms (12 points).
ZEA - a type of grass (12 points).
ZOS - a breed of Tibetan cattle (plural) (12 points).

The word “Zax” played on a Scrabble board

Our Favourite Z Words

Overall, there are actually 1000s of possible Z words that could be played in Scrabble. This means we won’t be able to cover them all in this article, however, we’ve selected our favourite Z words to give you some inspiration.

JAZZ

29 points and 4 letters.
Meaning: a genre of popular music that originated in New Orleans around 1900. For example, “Are we going to the jazz music festival tonight?”.
What we like about it: jazz is a fantastic word that has amazing points potential for being just 4 letters long. Its use of both the “J” letter tile and double “Z” tiles make it very rare to get but imagine the points if you could land this on a double or triple board square.

QUIZ

22 points and 4 letters.
Meaning: to examine somebody’s knowledge on a subject, such as to ask them questions. In a sentence, this could be “Did you enjoy completing the Scrabble quiz?”
What we like about it: quiz is the shortest word you can make with both the “Q” and “Z” letters, again it has good scoring potential when played in a Scrabble game.

HAZY

19 points and 4 letters.
Meaning: foggy or misty, alternatively can be used to describe a feeling of forgetfulness or something not being clear. For example, “The weather is a bit hazy” or “My memory is a bit hazy about it”.
What we like about it: “hazy” takes three often difficult-to-play letters (H, Z, and Y) and combines them into a great scoring Scrabble word. It’s a good choice if you happen to get stuck with a H, Z, and Y at the same time.

WOOZY

19 points and 4 letters.
Meaning: foggy or misty, alternatively can be used to describe a feeling of forgetfulness or something not being clear. For example, “The weather is a bit hazy” or “My memory is a bit hazy about it”.
What we like about it: “hazy” takes three often difficult-to-play letters (H, Z, and Y) and combines them into a great scoring Scrabble word. It’s a good choice if you happen to get stuck with a H, Z, and Y at the same time.

SEIZE

14 points and 5 letters.
Meaning: to take possession of an item or something, often by force or as a result of legal proceedings. E.g., “My house was seized by the court”.
What we like about it: seize is a nice and easy five-letter Z word due to its use of common vowels and the “S” tile. It’s easily extendable to make words such as “seizer” and “seized”.

ZEAL

13 points and 4 letters.
Meaning: a feeling of eagerness or enthusiasm towards something.
What we like about it: zeal, like the word seize, is a great one to remember as it utilized common letters from the alphabet. This makes it relatively easy to play in any Scrabble game.

KAZOO

18 points and 5 letters.
Meaning: a wind instrument that makes a buzzing sound. In a sentence, “I’m going to play my kazoo”.
Alternatives: as well as “kazoo”, there are several very similar words you could also play including “GAZOO” (15 points), “BAZOO” (16 points), and “WAZOO” (17 points).
What we like about it: we find that the word “zoo” often comes up a lot in Scrabble games and therefore these words are great for extending it to gain a few extra points.

MONAZITE

19 points and 8 letters.
Meaning: a reddish-brown mineral containing rare earth metals.
What we like about it: monazite is a great word to me personally as it’s the highest-scoring word I’ve ever managed to play in a Scrabble game. In this particular game, I managed to play it as a bingo in the bottom left corner of the board across a triple-triple and double “Z” (the “T” in “zite” was already played in a previous round). It scored me 261 points + 50 bonus points (311 points total) in a single round, illustrating why we love board multipliers so much. However, I think I’d be very lucky to ever get it again.

Bingo Z Words

We’ve hand-picked a selection of 7-letter Z words that it’s possible to score a bingo with. Where possible, the words we’ve selected use common letters and have a high percentage of vowels as these are the most likely letter tiles to be drawn from the tile bag. Remember, a Scrabble bingo will gain you an extra 50 bonus points, so it is always worth looking out for these even if they seem impossible.

SEIZURE - a sudden attack, spasm, or the act of taking possession of something by force (16 points).
UNISIZE - designed to fit all sizes, or only available in one single size (16 points).
IRONIZE - to treat or coat with iron, or to make something more severe or metallic (16 points).
OOZIEST - something that’s the most oozy - leaking, slimy, slippery (16 points).
GAZELLE - a type of antelope (17 points).
ZONINGS - the act of dividing something into zones or regions (17 points).
GLAZERS - a person or machine that applies a glossy coating or finish to a surface or product (17 points).
ZINGIER - more lively or energetic (17 points).
SNOOZED - to sleep lightly or briefly or be in a drowsy or lazy state (17 points).
BLAZERS - a type of formal jacket, often worn as part of a suit (18 points).
ZIPLINE - a cable or rope suspended between two points, often used for recreational purposes (18 points).

Double Z Words

It’s also common for Z words to contain two Zs. In the English language, these often follow on from each other to create a double “Z” word. We’ve selected a few examples of double “Z” words below.

FIZZ - a bubbling or hissing sound, or a carbonated drink (25 points, 4 letters).
WHIZZ - to move swiftly or skilfully, or a sound like a rapid movement (29 points, 5 letters).
TIZZY - a state of nervous excitement or confusion (26 points, 5 letters).
DIZZY - feeling lightheaded or unsteady, or causing dizziness (27 points, 5 letters).
SNAZZY - stylish or fashionable in a showy way (27 points, 6 letters)
BEZZLE - to embezzle or cheat (26 points, 6 letters)
BUZZER - a device that produces a buzzing sound, or a person who causes excitement or interest (26 points, 6 letters).
PUZZLER - something that’s difficult to solve or understand, or a person who enjoys solving puzzles (27 points, 7 letters).

You can find a full list of all double Z words here if you’re looking for more.

It’s important to note that in Scrabble, double Z words kind of require double the luck. This is because there is only one Z tile in the bag per game. This means, the only way a double Z word can be played is if you also have one of the two blank tiles that can be substituted for the second Z. This can also make the scoring of double Z words a bit hazy, as a blank tile is always worth 0 points. This means in reality when playing, a double Z word will never fetch as many points as it may seem. Always keep this in mind when playing as the blank tile could be put to better use depending on the game.

How To Find More Z Words

Dictionary searchers

Our Scrabble word finder is great for finding words that contain specific letters as they enable players to perform a more advanced search on the game dictionary. Using our site’s word finder tool, we’ve created a page of the top 1000 Z words you can browse to discover a full list of words with the letter Z.

Using a Scrabble word checker

If you already have a word in mind, the best way to check if it’s a valid Scrabble word would be to use a Scrabble word checker. Here you can simply enter the word and check its validity, plus calculate the word score with multipliers.

Tips and Tricks for Z Words

The Z character is one of the rarest to draw from the tile bag, with only one Z tile being available per game. When you’re lucky enough to get the letter Z it’s important to use it wisely to score the maximum number of points. Here are a few of our tips and tricks for doing this.

Firstly, always play the Z tile on a double or triple letter or word square. The Z tile alone is only worth 10 points, however, this quickly becomes 20 or 30 depending on how well you can utilise it. We normally keep the Z tile held back in our games until the board is heading towards a corner or the outside edge with the triple-word bonus squares. Then we like to strategically set ourselves up as best we can to play a word across them for the 30 points plus score. Sometimes this doesn’t work out, as the opponent may catch on and block our move or get their first, but a Scrabble game will likely present many opportunities to do this.

Secondly, don’t be afraid of playing short two or three-letter words with the Z tile. It’s often a shame to see players go for long 5+ letter words with a Z but forget to play them in a way that maximizes points. Consequently, some really good Z words only score in the mid-teens, whereas a 2-letter word played in the right spot on bonus multipliers as we discussed above, could fetch up to 30 or more points.

Finally, take some time to memorize Z words outside of the game. Z can be a tricky letter to play with, and Z words aren’t as common in the English language compared to words using other letters. Therefore, it’s horrible to draw a Z but hit a mind freeze whereby you cannot think of a word to play with it. Therefore, by memorizing some of Z words beforehand, you’ll be better equipped to play the letter when you get it.

Summary

Now that you’ve read everything you need to know about Scrabble words with the letter Z, hopefully, you can go away with this newfound game knowledge and put it to the test during your next game of Scrabble. Our final and most important top tip is to memorize those two and three-letter Z words as soon as possible, as this will make the most difference to your playing abilities with the least amount of effort.

Thank you for taking the time to read our article today and as always, happy playing!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Stephen Lunt is Word Checker's founder and primary content writer. He loves to share his experiences and knowledge of word games through writing and creating handy online tools for players to use.

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