Best Hangman Words

Do you love games like word search? 

Even if you don't, it may be worth your time to play them. As physical exercise is good for staving off many diseases and physical problems, mental exercises may help stave off Alzheimer's disease and dementia. 

Hangman is a simple word game that nearly anyone can play. Of course, if you're going to go the effort, you might as well learn the best Hangman words to really stump your opponent. After all, exercising your brain is great but winning is even better, right?

Let's take a look!

What Is Hangman?

In case you're not familiar with Hangman, let's run through how it's played. Hangman is a simple game that only requires at least 2 people, a pen, and paper. Alternatively, one person can play by themselves online.

The host or computer picks a word and draws or displays horizontal lines to show the number of letters. For example, draw 8 lines for an 8-letter word. The player then begins guessing letters. For every wrong guess, the host draws a part of a stick figure. In our version, a balloon pops for every wrong guess. If too many wrong guesses are made and the stick figure is completed or all the balloons pop, the player loses. 

For every correct guess, the letter is placed in the corresponding space or spaces. For example, if a player guesses 'f' for the word 'stuff', two 'f's are placed in the last two spaces. 

What Are Difficult Hangman Words to Guess?

You might think that long, unusual words are the hardest Hangman words to guess. However, that isn't always the case. As a matter of fact, the best Hangman words are typically only 4 or 5 letters long. 

Why? Because there are so many of them! 

Pick ones that have a lot of similar-looking words and you've got an amazing Hangman word. For example, words that end in -uck. Many people start guessing with vowels because these tend to be the most common letters. However, 'u' is often the last vowel they'll pick. Then, even if they get the -uck, there are so many first letters to pick from its literal luck (there's one!) if they guess the right one. Don't believe us?

• Buck
• Duck
• Huck
• Luck
• Muck
• Puck
• Suck
• Tuck
• Yuck 

See? For truly unbeatable Hangman words, try choosing little-known words formed from uncommon letters. For example,

• Diphthong: two vowels sounds blending together
• Zugzwang: having to make a move in chess that is to your disadvantage
• Ytterbium: a rare element on the periodic table

Other great choices are words that end in -uff, and short words that use uncommon letters like void, faux, jazz, funny, and tomb. 

Hangman Strategies

Some people might think that using long, complicated words with lots of letters will be the most confusing. Ironically, these words can often be the easiest to guess. Using lots of different letters allows players to make a lot of guesses without strikes. Stick with short words with unusual letters for the best Hangman words.

When guessing, vowels and common letters like 't' are great to start with. However, if you know that your opponent has read this article, you might want to start with the unusual ones!

Excited to try out your new strategies for guessing Hangman words? Start playing here!