9 letter hangman words
222 words of exactly 9 letters, hardest first, each with a clue and a difficulty score. 133 easy, 73 medium, 16 hard.
Average score
3.2
Site average is 3.7
Hardest
numbskull
9.2
Easiest
tennessee
-2.2
Length is the first thing a guesser learns about a word, before anybody has guessed a letter, so it is worth knowing what 9 blanks actually tells you. These 222 words average 3.2 against a site average of 3.7, which makes them easier than a word picked at random from here.
The reason runs against instinct. A long word looks intimidating and is generous: every correct letter uncovers more of the board, and long words are almost always built from ordinary letters. A short word can be made entirely of letters nobody opens with, and then a guesser can spend half their allowance learning nothing.
These words are drawn from 22 categories, and the full scoring formula is on the methodology page. If you are mid-game rather than choosing, the solver takes the length and the letters you have missed and narrows it from there.
Advertisement
All 222 words
| Word | Clue | Letters | Score | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| numbskull | Another fool, more bluntly | 9 / 7 distinct | 9.2 | Hard |
| poppycock | Nonsense, said with more disdain | 9 / 5 distinct | 8.9 | Hard |
| lightbulb | The one that goes at the worst moment | 9 / 7 distinct | 8.3 | Hard |
| jellyfish | Drifting sea creature with no brain and no bones | 9 / 8 distinct | 8.3 | Hard |
| flashback | A scene from earlier, shown later | 9 / 8 distinct | 8.3 | Hard |
| scallywag | Same idea, a bit more affectionate | 9 / 7 distinct | 8.1 | Hard |
| skydiving | Freefall first, canopy second | 9 / 8 distinct | 7.9 | Hard |
| hatchback | The boot lid takes the back window with it | 9 / 6 distinct | 7.9 | Hard |
| hyperlink | The idea the whole web is built on | 9 / 9 distinct | 7.4 | Hard |
| multiplex | Many screens under one roof | 9 / 8 distinct | 7.4 | Hard |
| blackhole | Gravity so strong that light cannot leave | 9 / 8 distinct | 7.4 | Hard |
| bulldozer | Pushes earth about | 9 / 8 distinct | 7.4 | Hard |
| bandwidth | How much can pass through at once | 9 / 8 distinct | 7.2 | Hard |
| spacewalk | Outside, and attached by a tether | 9 / 8 distinct | 7.1 | Hard |
| kerfuffle | A fuss, and rather a silly one | 9 / 6 distinct | 7.0 | Hard |
| butterfly | Starts as a caterpillar, ends with patterned wings | 9 / 8 distinct | 6.4 | Hard |
| debugging | Finding out what you actually wrote | 9 / 7 distinct | 6.3 | Medium |
| frequency | How many times something happens per second | 9 / 8 distinct | 6.3 | Medium |
| xylophone | Wooden bars struck with mallets | 9 / 8 distinct | 6.3 | Medium |
| snowflake | No two the same, allegedly | 9 / 9 distinct | 6.1 | Medium |
| swordfish | Ocean hunter with a long flat bill | 9 / 8 distinct | 6.1 | Medium |
| clipboard | Holds exactly one thing, badly | 9 / 9 distinct | 5.9 | Medium |
| chemistry | What things are made of and how they react | 9 / 9 distinct | 5.7 | Medium |
| boulevard | A wide street with trees down the middle | 9 / 9 distinct | 5.7 | Medium |
| geography | Rivers, capitals and why places are where they are | 9 / 8 distinct | 5.6 | Medium |
| gymnasium | Indoor sports, and a very particular smell | 9 / 8 distinct | 5.6 | Medium |
| buffering | The three most annoying dots | 9 / 8 distinct | 5.6 | Medium |
| lampshade | Softens the light and gathers dust | 9 / 8 distinct | 5.6 | Medium |
| sunflower | Tracks the sun while it is growing | 9 / 9 distinct | 5.4 | Medium |
| doohickey | A small object whose name escapes you | 9 / 8 distinct | 5.4 | Medium |
| wrestling | Two competitors, no strikes, plenty of leverage | 9 / 9 distinct | 5.2 | Medium |
| microchip | Millions of switches on a fingernail | 9 / 7 distinct | 5.2 | Medium |
| cacophony | A harsh, discordant mixture of sound | 9 / 7 distinct | 5.2 | Medium |
| snowdrift | Where the path used to be | 9 / 9 distinct | 5.2 | Medium |
| capillary | So narrow the cells pass in single file | 9 / 7 distinct | 5.2 | Medium |
| microwave | Thirty seconds, then thirty more | 9 / 9 distinct | 5.2 | Medium |
| bamboozle | To confuse someone deliberately | 9 / 7 distinct | 5.2 | Medium |
| snowglobe | Shake it and wait | 9 / 8 distinct | 5.2 | Medium |
| firetruck | Ladder, hose and a great deal of red | 9 / 8 distinct | 5.2 | Medium |
| handbrake | For hills, and for parking | 9 / 8 distinct | 5.2 | Medium |
| lifeguard | Watches water for hours and hopes to be bored | 9 / 9 distinct | 5.0 | Medium |
| driftwood | Wood that has been travelling | 9 / 7 distinct | 5.0 | Medium |
| waterfall | Where a river runs out of floor | 9 / 7 distinct | 5.0 | Medium |
| gallivant | To roam about enjoying yourself | 9 / 7 distinct | 5.0 | Medium |
| countdown | Ten to one, out loud | 9 / 7 distinct | 5.0 | Medium |
| graveyard | Quiet, and busy in stories | 9 / 7 distinct | 5.0 | Medium |
| blueberry | Small dark berry sold by the punnet | 9 / 6 distinct | 4.9 | Medium |
| bethlehem | The town in the carol | 9 / 6 distinct | 4.9 | Medium |
| fireworks | Loud, brief and enormously expensive | 9 / 8 distinct | 4.8 | Medium |
| decathlon | Ten events over two days | 9 / 9 distinct | 4.8 | Medium |
| algorithm | A finite list of steps that always terminates | 9 / 9 distinct | 4.8 | Medium |
| blueprint | The plan, before anything is built | 9 / 9 distinct | 4.8 | Medium |
| lightyear | A distance, not a time | 9 / 9 distinct | 4.8 | Medium |
| lightning | The discharge; thunder is only the sound | 9 / 6 distinct | 4.7 | Medium |
| funicular | Two cars on a slope, balancing each other | 9 / 8 distinct | 4.7 | Medium |
| ambulance | Written backwards on the front | 9 / 8 distinct | 4.7 | Medium |
| hotspring | Naturally heated, and usually smells of it | 9 / 9 distinct | 4.6 | Medium |
| fruitcake | Made in October, eaten in December, sometimes | 9 / 9 distinct | 4.6 | Medium |
| guidebook | Right about the map, late about the restaurants | 9 / 8 distinct | 4.5 | Medium |
| fieldtrip | School, but on a coach | 9 / 8 distinct | 4.4 | Medium |
| landscape | Everything you can see from one place | 9 / 8 distinct | 4.4 | Medium |
| cathedral | Took centuries and several architects | 9 / 8 distinct | 4.4 | Medium |
| moonlight | What the werewolf is waiting for | 9 / 8 distinct | 4.4 | Medium |
| chairlift | For getting back up the mountain | 9 / 8 distinct | 4.4 | Medium |
| christmas | Tree, lights, and a great deal of wrapping paper | 9 / 8 distinct | 4.2 | Medium |
| starlight | What guided them, in the story | 9 / 8 distinct | 4.2 | Medium |
| billiards | Cue sport played on a pocketed table | 9 / 7 distinct | 4.1 | Medium |
| principal | The one you hope not to be sent to | 9 / 7 distinct | 4.1 | Medium |
| principle | A rule of conduct, not the person in the office | 9 / 7 distinct | 4.1 | Medium |
| conductor | Makes no sound and shapes all of it | 9 / 7 distinct | 4.1 | Medium |
| dashboard | Everything important, on one screen | 9 / 7 distinct | 4.1 | Medium |
| snowboard | Both feet strapped to one board | 9 / 8 distinct | 4.1 | Medium |
| developer | Builds, breaks and rebuilds it | 9 / 7 distinct | 4.1 | Medium |
| avalanche | Snow that stops holding on to the slope | 9 / 7 distinct | 4.1 | Medium |
| halloween | The one night doorbells are welcome | 9 / 7 distinct | 4.1 | Medium |
| venezuela | Home of the world's highest waterfall | 9 / 7 distinct | 4.0 | Medium |
| wolverine | Small, ferocious and impossible to intimidate | 9 / 8 distinct | 3.9 | Medium |
| taekwondo | Korean martial art built around kicking | 9 / 8 distinct | 3.9 | Medium |
| excavator | Digs, with an arm and a bucket | 9 / 8 distinct | 3.9 | Medium |
| raspberry | Soft red berry that collapses if you look at it | 9 / 7 distinct | 3.9 | Medium |
| cranberry | Sharp red sauce beside the meat | 9 / 7 distinct | 3.9 | Medium |
| neighbour | The one who does the house up properly | 9 / 9 distinct | 3.9 | Medium |
| projector | Fan noise, and a slightly crooked image | 9 / 7 distinct | 3.9 | Medium |
| scarecrow | Stuffed, and frightening the wrong things | 9 / 7 distinct | 3.9 | Medium |
| letterbox | Draughty, and where the post lands | 9 / 7 distinct | 3.9 | Medium |
| guacamole | Mashed avocado with lime, onion and chilli | 9 / 8 distinct | 3.8 | Medium |
| candycane | Striped, hooked and minty | 9 / 6 distinct | 3.8 | Medium |
| fisherman | Out before dawn, weather permitting | 9 / 9 distinct | 3.7 | Medium |
| franchise | When the story becomes a business | 9 / 9 distinct | 3.7 | Medium |
| chameleon | Changes colour and aims each eye separately | 9 / 8 distinct | 3.6 | Easy |
| porcupine | Covered in quills it can leave in a predator | 9 / 8 distinct | 3.6 | Easy |
| enchilada | Rolled tortilla baked under chilli sauce | 9 / 8 distinct | 3.6 | Easy |
| magnesium | Burns with a blinding white light | 9 / 8 distinct | 3.6 | Easy |
| paramedic | First to arrive when it matters most | 9 / 8 distinct | 3.6 | Easy |
| amplifier | Makes it louder and often better | 9 / 8 distinct | 3.6 | Easy |
| fireplace | Where the stockings hang | 9 / 8 distinct | 3.6 | Easy |
| parachute | The backup plan | 9 / 8 distinct | 3.6 | Easy |
| artichoke | You eat it one leaf at a time | 9 / 9 distinct | 3.4 | Easy |
| supernova | A star ending in an enormous explosion | 9 / 9 distinct | 3.4 | Easy |
| paragraph | One idea, developed | 9 / 5 distinct | 3.4 | Easy |
| excursion | A short trip out from where you are staying | 9 / 9 distinct | 3.4 | Easy |
| classical | A period, not a compliment | 9 / 5 distinct | 3.4 | Easy |
| propeller | Blades that pull the aircraft along | 9 / 5 distinct | 3.4 | Easy |
| liquorice | Black sweet with a taste people rarely feel neutral about | 9 / 8 distinct | 3.4 | Easy |
| spaghetti | Long thin pasta, best twirled onto a fork | 9 / 8 distinct | 3.3 | Easy |
| athletics | Track and field, from sprints to the javelin | 9 / 8 distinct | 3.3 | Easy |
| badminton | Played with a shuttlecock rather than a ball | 9 / 8 distinct | 3.3 | Easy |
| recording | The take they kept | 9 / 8 distinct | 3.3 | Easy |
| armadillo | Wears bony armour and rolls up for safety | 9 / 7 distinct | 3.2 | Easy |
| crocodile | Armoured river reptile with an enormous bite | 9 / 7 distinct | 3.2 | Easy |
| chocolate | Ground cacao turned into the world's favourite treat | 9 / 7 distinct | 3.2 | Easy |
| bluetooth | Short range, low power, named after a king | 9 / 7 distinct | 3.2 | Easy |
| habitable | The zone where liquid water could sit | 9 / 7 distinct | 3.2 | Easy |
| adventure | The part that did not go to plan | 9 / 8 distinct | 3.2 | Easy |
| saxophone | Brass body, reed mouthpiece, and unmistakable | 9 / 8 distinct | 3.2 | Easy |
| exoplanet | A planet round another star | 9 / 8 distinct | 3.2 | Easy |
| vermilion | Bright orange-red from a mineral pigment | 9 / 8 distinct | 3.2 | Easy |
| motorbike | Faster, louder, and colder | 9 / 8 distinct | 3.2 | Easy |
| ecosystem | Everything living in a place, plus the place | 9 / 7 distinct | 3.0 | Easy |
| classroom | Where the desks and the whiteboard live | 9 / 7 distinct | 3.0 | Easy |
| architect | Draws the building before anybody digs | 9 / 7 distinct | 3.0 | Easy |
| crescendo | Gradually getting louder | 9 / 7 distinct | 3.0 | Easy |
| pineapple | Spiky outside, sweet yellow rings inside | 9 / 6 distinct | 2.9 | Easy |
| detective | Follows the part that does not fit | 9 / 6 distinct | 2.8 | Easy |
| submarine | Goes down deliberately | 9 / 9 distinct | 2.8 | Easy |
| prototype | Built to be thrown away | 9 / 6 distinct | 2.7 | Easy |
| telemetry | Measurements sent home automatically | 9 / 6 distinct | 2.7 | Easy |
| character | Someone the audience decides to care about | 9 / 6 distinct | 2.7 | Easy |
| streaming | Playing it before it has all arrived | 9 / 9 distinct | 2.6 | Easy |
| wisconsin | Dairy, and very serious about cheese | 9 / 6 distinct | 2.6 | Easy |
| potassium | Element K, and bananas are famous for it | 9 / 8 distinct | 2.4 | Easy |
| hurricane | A storm with an eye and a name | 9 / 8 distinct | 2.4 | Easy |
| peninsula | Land with water on three sides | 9 / 8 distinct | 2.4 | Easy |
| promenade | Made for walking beside water | 9 / 8 distinct | 2.4 | Easy |
| harmonica | Pocket sized, and played by breathing both ways | 9 / 8 distinct | 2.4 | Easy |
| gratitude | The point of the whole occasion | 9 / 8 distinct | 2.4 | Easy |
| pantomime | Behind you, apparently | 9 / 8 distinct | 2.4 | Easy |
| cartilage | The smooth stuff at the ends of bones | 9 / 8 distinct | 2.4 | Easy |
| cosmonaut | The same job, a different programme | 9 / 8 distinct | 2.4 | Easy |
| spacesuit | A one-person spacecraft with legs | 9 / 8 distinct | 2.4 | Easy |
| guatemala | Where the Maya built cities under the jungle | 9 / 7 distinct | 2.3 | Easy |
| monologue | One character, holding the floor | 9 / 7 distinct | 2.3 | Easy |
| evolution | Change in a population across generations | 9 / 8 distinct | 2.3 | Easy |
| turquoise | Between blue and green, and a stone | 9 / 8 distinct | 2.3 | Easy |
| triathlon | Swim, then bike, then run, without stopping | 9 / 8 distinct | 2.2 | Easy |
| therapist | Asks the question nobody else asked | 9 / 8 distinct | 2.2 | Easy |
| orchestra | Strings, woodwind, brass and percussion | 9 / 8 distinct | 2.2 | Easy |
| courgette | Mild green summer squash, zucchini by another name | 9 / 7 distinct | 2.1 | Easy |
| endurance | Not how fast, but how long | 9 / 7 distinct | 2.1 | Easy |
| telescope | Collects light from very far away | 9 / 7 distinct | 2.1 | Easy |
| timetable | Tells you where you are supposed to be | 9 / 7 distinct | 2.1 | Easy |
| biologist | Studies what is alive and how it works | 9 / 7 distinct | 2.1 | Easy |
| geologist | Reads the landscape as a timeline | 9 / 7 distinct | 2.1 | Easy |
| departure | Listed on a board, subject to change | 9 / 7 distinct | 2.1 | Easy |
| accordion | Bellows, buttons and a divided reputation | 9 / 7 distinct | 2.1 | Easy |
| celestial | Of the sky, generally | 9 / 7 distinct | 2.1 | Easy |
| navigator | Knows exactly where you are | 9 / 8 distinct | 2.1 | Easy |
| expansion | What it has been doing ever since | 9 / 8 distinct | 2.1 | Easy |
| albatross | Ocean bird with the longest wingspan of all | 9 / 7 distinct | 1.9 | Easy |
| bartender | Mixes drinks and listens to a great deal | 9 / 7 distinct | 1.9 | Easy |
| carpenter | Works wood into something that holds | 9 / 7 distinct | 1.9 | Easy |
| screening | A showing, often before release | 9 / 7 distinct | 1.9 | Easy |
| voiceover | A narrator you hear but never see | 9 / 6 distinct | 1.9 | Easy |
| tombstone | Carved, and standing up | 9 / 7 distinct | 1.9 | Easy |
| valentine | One card, sent anonymously | 9 / 7 distinct | 1.9 | Easy |
| asparagus | Green spears that arrive for only a few weeks | 9 / 6 distinct | 1.8 | Easy |
| pepperoni | Spicy cured sausage that curls on a pizza | 9 / 6 distinct | 1.8 | Easy |
| singapore | City, island and country all at once | 9 / 9 distinct | 1.7 | Easy |
| aubergine | Glossy purple vegetable, called eggplant elsewhere | 9 / 8 distinct | 1.6 | Easy |
| motocross | Motorbikes over dirt jumps | 9 / 6 distinct | 1.6 | Easy |
| professor | Teaches and publishes, in that order officially | 9 / 6 distinct | 1.6 | Easy |
| processor | The part that actually does the arithmetic | 9 / 6 distinct | 1.6 | Easy |
| sunscreen | Applied too late, by tradition | 9 / 6 distinct | 1.6 | Easy |
| detergent | Goes in the drawer, not the drum | 9 / 6 distinct | 1.6 | Easy |
| limousine | Long, black, and hired by the hour | 9 / 8 distinct | 1.6 | Easy |
| coriander | Herb that tastes like soap to some people | 9 / 8 distinct | 1.3 | Easy |
| digestion | Breaking food down into something usable | 9 / 8 distinct | 1.3 | Easy |
| economist | Explains afterwards why it was obvious | 9 / 8 distinct | 1.3 | Easy |
| hibernate | Sleeping through the part with no food | 9 / 8 distinct | 1.3 | Easy |
| limestone | Made of ancient shells, and dissolves in rain | 9 / 8 distinct | 1.3 | Easy |
| migration | Leaving on time, every year, without a map | 9 / 8 distinct | 1.3 | Easy |
| shoreline | Where the map stops being reliable | 9 / 8 distinct | 1.3 | Easy |
| interface | Where two things have to agree to meet | 9 / 8 distinct | 1.3 | Easy |
| insurance | Boring until the day it is not | 9 / 8 distinct | 1.3 | Easy |
| reception | Where the keys and the answers are | 9 / 8 distinct | 1.3 | Easy |
| escalator | Stairs that do the work | 9 / 8 distinct | 1.3 | Easy |
| indicator | Used less than it should be | 9 / 8 distinct | 1.3 | Easy |
| lithuania | Baltic country famous for amber | 9 / 7 distinct | 1.2 | Easy |
| nicaragua | Central American country of lakes and volcanoes | 9 / 7 distinct | 1.2 | Easy |
| croissant | Flaky buttery crescent from a French bakery | 9 / 8 distinct | 1.1 | Easy |
| bannister | For holding, not sliding | 9 / 8 distinct | 1.1 | Easy |
| orangutan | Red-haired ape that builds a nest each night | 9 / 7 distinct | 1.0 | Easy |
| mistletoe | Hang it in a doorway at your own risk | 9 / 7 distinct | 1.0 | Easy |
| alabaster | Pure pale white, from the stone | 9 / 7 distinct | 1.0 | Easy |
| sandstone | Grains of sand cemented together | 9 / 7 distinct | 0.8 | Easy |
| extension | Because the socket was in the wrong place | 9 / 7 distinct | 0.8 | Easy |
| tarantula | Large hairy spider, less dangerous than it looks | 9 / 6 distinct | 0.7 | Easy |
| satellite | Anything in orbit around something larger | 9 / 6 distinct | 0.7 | Easy |
| librarian | Knows where everything is and who has it | 9 / 6 distinct | 0.7 | Easy |
| metronome | Never wrong and never sympathetic | 9 / 6 distinct | 0.7 | Easy |
| rehearsal | Where it is actually decided | 9 / 6 distinct | 0.7 | Easy |
| catamaran | Two hulls, and stable | 9 / 6 distinct | 0.7 | Easy |
| scientist | Designs experiments that can prove them wrong | 9 / 6 distinct | 0.4 | Easy |
| minnesota | Ten thousand lakes, by its own count | 9 / 8 distinct | 0.2 | Easy |
| australia | A country that is also a continent | 9 / 7 distinct | 0.1 | Easy |
| cafeteria | Trays, queues and questionable puddings | 9 / 7 distinct | 0.1 | Easy |
| aeroplane | Heavier than air and flying anyway | 9 / 7 distinct | 0.1 | Easy |
| argentina | Home of tango and vast grassy pampas | 9 / 7 distinct | -0.1 | Easy |
| astronaut | Trained to work where there is no air | 9 / 7 distinct | -0.1 | Easy |
| itinerary | The plan that survives about a day | 9 / 7 distinct | -0.1 | Easy |
| tradition | The thing that must be done that way | 9 / 7 distinct | -0.1 | Easy |
| staircase | The step that creaks | 9 / 7 distinct | -0.1 | Easy |
| tangerine | Bright orange | 9 / 7 distinct | -0.1 | Easy |
| detention | Staying behind, and not by choice | 9 / 6 distinct | -0.4 | Easy |
| louisiana | Parishes instead of counties | 9 / 7 distinct | -0.8 | Easy |
| indonesia | Thousands of islands across the equator | 9 / 7 distinct | -1.0 | Easy |
| radiation | Energy travelling as waves or particles | 9 / 7 distinct | -1.0 | Easy |
| meteorite | The bit that survives the trip through the atmosphere | 9 / 6 distinct | -1.3 | Easy |
| dietitian | Advises on what to eat and why | 9 / 6 distinct | -1.3 | Easy |
| animation | Still pictures, fast enough to fool you | 9 / 6 distinct | -1.3 | Easy |
| intestine | Small then large, and very long | 9 / 5 distinct | -1.9 | Easy |
| tennessee | Country music and the Smoky Mountains | 9 / 4 distinct | -2.2 | Easy |
Questions
What are some 9 letter words for hangman?
There are 222 on this site, every one with a clue and a difficulty score. The hardest is NUMBSKULL at 9.2 and the easiest is TENNESSEE at -2.2.
Are 9 letter words hard in hangman?
On average they score 3.2, against 3.7 across every word here, so they are easier than the site average. Short words are generally harder than people expect, because a long word reveals more of the board with every correct guess.
How do I guess a 9 letter word?
Start with E and A, then move to consonants rather than clearing the remaining vowels. At 9 letters the number of blanks is itself a strong clue, and once two or three positions are filled the pattern usually narrows the field faster than frequency does.
Can the solver work from just the length?
Yes. Set the length, leave every box empty and mark the letters you have already missed, and it will return every 9 letter word that still fits along with the best letter to try next.