Animals hangman words
85 animals words, each with a clue and a difficulty score computed from its spelling. 43 easy, 31 medium, 11 hard.
Average score
3.9
Across all 85 words
Hardest
lynx
Scores 12.0
Easiest
anteater
Scores -2.1
Animal names are the friendliest category in hangman and the reason most people start here. Almost all of them end in a vowel or a common consonant cluster, and a guesser who opens with E, A and R will usually get a foothold in three guesses.
The trap is the long ones. Rhinoceros and chimpanzee look intimidating and are actually generous, because length means more letters revealed per correct guess. The genuinely hard entries here are the short ones with awkward letters: lynx, gecko, orca. Four or five letters and a rare consonant leaves you almost nothing to work with.
If you are choosing for someone else, pick by score rather than by how obscure the animal sounds. Platypus is a famous animal and a hard word. Antelope is a less famous animal and an easy one.
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Easy animals words43
The usual opening guesses cover most of it, so it tends to fall quickly.
| Word | Clue | Letters | Score | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| albatross | Ocean bird with the longest wingspan of all | 9 / 7 distinct | 1.9 | Easy |
| anteater | Long snout and longer tongue, no teeth at all | 8 / 5 distinct | -2.1 | Easy |
| antelope | Fast, slender grazer with ringed horns | 8 / 7 distinct | 1.1 | Easy |
| armadillo | Wears bony armour and rolls up for safety | 9 / 7 distinct | 3.2 | Easy |
| baboon | Ground-dwelling monkey with a dog-like face | 6 / 4 distinct | 1.3 | Easy |
| barnacle | Glues itself to rocks and ships for life | 8 / 7 distinct | 3.4 | Easy |
| beaver | Fells trees with its teeth and dams rivers | 6 / 5 distinct | 3.0 | Easy |
| bison | Shaggy-shouldered giant of the grasslands | 5 / 5 distinct | 1.8 | Easy |
| chameleon | Changes colour and aims each eye separately | 9 / 8 distinct | 3.6 | Easy |
| cheetah | The fastest sprinter on four legs | 7 / 5 distinct | 3.0 | Easy |
| crocodile | Armoured river reptile with an enormous bite | 9 / 7 distinct | 3.2 | Easy |
| elephant | The largest land animal, with a trunk and tusks | 8 / 7 distinct | 3.4 | Easy |
| ferret | Long, curious relative of the weasel | 6 / 4 distinct | 1.0 | Easy |
| giraffe | Tallest animal alive, built for reaching treetops | 7 / 6 distinct | 3.4 | Easy |
| gorilla | Largest of the great apes, mostly gentle | 7 / 6 distinct | 3.4 | Easy |
| hamster | Pocket-sized pet that runs all night on a wheel | 7 / 7 distinct | 3.6 | Easy |
| iguana | Green lizard with a crest along its back | 6 / 5 distinct | 0.5 | Easy |
| kangaroo | Hops on strong back legs and carries young in a pouch | 8 / 6 distinct | 1.8 | Easy |
| koala | Sleeps most of the day and eats eucalyptus | 5 / 4 distinct | 3.1 | Easy |
| lobster | Clawed sea creature that turns red when cooked | 7 / 7 distinct | 3.6 | Easy |
| manatee | Slow, gentle grazer of warm coastal water | 7 / 5 distinct | -1.0 | Easy |
| meerkat | Stands upright on watch while the group forages | 7 / 6 distinct | 3.0 | Easy |
| mongoose | Quick enough to fight a snake and win | 8 / 6 distinct | 0.8 | Easy |
| moose | Largest deer, with broad flattened antlers | 5 / 4 distinct | -0.4 | Easy |
| octopus | Eight arms, three hearts, changes colour at will | 7 / 6 distinct | 3.4 | Easy |
| orangutan | Red-haired ape that builds a nest each night | 9 / 7 distinct | 1.0 | Easy |
| orca | Black and white hunter, largest of the dolphins | 4 / 4 distinct | 1.5 | Easy |
| ostrich | Biggest bird alive, runs instead of flying | 7 / 7 distinct | 3.6 | Easy |
| otter | Playful swimmer that cracks shells on its chest | 5 / 4 distinct | -0.8 | Easy |
| panther | Common name for a big cat with an all-black coat | 7 / 7 distinct | 3.6 | Easy |
| penguin | A bird that swims beautifully and cannot fly | 7 / 6 distinct | 3.4 | Easy |
| porcupine | Covered in quills it can leave in a predator | 9 / 8 distinct | 3.6 | Easy |
| raccoon | Masked night visitor that raids bins | 7 / 5 distinct | 1.6 | Easy |
| rhinoceros | Thick-skinned giant with one or two horns | 10 / 8 distinct | 1.2 | Easy |
| salamander | Amphibian that can regrow a lost limb | 10 / 8 distinct | 2.2 | Easy |
| scorpion | Eight legs, pincers and a stinging tail | 8 / 7 distinct | 2.1 | Easy |
| seahorse | Fish that swims upright; the male carries the eggs | 8 / 6 distinct | -0.5 | Easy |
| starfish | Five-armed sea animal that can regrow a limb | 8 / 7 distinct | 3.1 | Easy |
| stingray | Flat swimmer that glides with winglike fins | 8 / 8 distinct | 3.5 | Easy |
| tarantula | Large hairy spider, less dangerous than it looks | 9 / 6 distinct | 0.7 | Easy |
| toad | Warty, drier cousin of the frog | 4 / 4 distinct | 1.5 | Easy |
| tortoise | Slow land reptile that outlives most owners | 8 / 6 distinct | -1.8 | Easy |
| weasel | Slim hunter that fits down a mouse hole | 6 / 5 distinct | 3.0 | Easy |
Medium animals words31
You will get a foothold, then have to work out the rest properly.
| Word | Clue | Letters | Score | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| anglerfish | Deep-sea fish that fishes with its own lure | 10 / 10 distinct | 4.6 | Medium |
| badger | Striped-faced digger, active mostly at night | 6 / 6 distinct | 5.3 | Medium |
| bat | The only mammal that truly flies | 3 / 3 distinct | 3.7 | Medium |
| bobcat | Short-tailed North American wild cat | 6 / 5 distinct | 4.8 | Medium |
| chimpanzee | Our closest relative, uses tools and solves puzzles | 10 / 9 distinct | 5.2 | Medium |
| crab | Sidles sideways and wears its skeleton outside | 4 / 4 distinct | 6.0 | Medium |
| falcon | Dives faster than any other animal on earth | 6 / 6 distinct | 5.3 | Medium |
| flamingo | Pink wading bird that stands on one leg | 8 / 8 distinct | 5.0 | Medium |
| gazelle | Small antelope famous for leaping as it runs | 7 / 5 distinct | 5.6 | Medium |
| gerbil | Small desert rodent kept as a pet | 6 / 6 distinct | 5.3 | Medium |
| hedgehog | Small and spiny, rolls into a ball when scared | 8 / 5 distinct | 5.1 | Medium |
| hyena | Bone-crushing scavenger with a laughing call | 5 / 5 distinct | 3.8 | Medium |
| jaguar | Spotted big cat of the Americas with a crushing bite | 6 / 5 distinct | 4.7 | Medium |
| lemur | Ring-tailed primate found only in Madagascar | 5 / 5 distinct | 5.8 | Medium |
| leopard | Spotted cat that hauls its meal up into a tree | 7 / 7 distinct | 3.9 | Medium |
| mole | Velvet-coated tunneller with shovel-shaped hands | 4 / 4 distinct | 4.0 | Medium |
| narwhal | Arctic whale with a single spiral tusk | 7 / 6 distinct | 5.6 | Medium |
| newt | Small amphibian that returns to water to breed | 4 / 4 distinct | 5.0 | Medium |
| peacock | Fans an enormous tail covered in eyespots | 7 / 6 distinct | 5.9 | Medium |
| pelican | Scoops up fish in the pouch under its beak | 7 / 7 distinct | 3.9 | Medium |
| pufferfish | Swells into a spiny ball when threatened | 10 / 8 distinct | 6.0 | Medium |
| sloth | Moves so slowly that algae grows in its fur | 5 / 5 distinct | 5.4 | Medium |
| squirrel | Bushy-tailed climber that buries nuts and forgets them | 8 / 7 distinct | 4.2 | Medium |
| swordfish | Ocean hunter with a long flat bill | 9 / 8 distinct | 6.1 | Medium |
| tadpole | The tailed swimming stage before legs appear | 7 / 7 distinct | 3.9 | Medium |
| vulture | Bald-headed bird that cleans up carcasses | 7 / 6 distinct | 5.9 | Medium |
| walrus | Arctic swimmer with tusks and a moustache | 6 / 6 distinct | 6.3 | Medium |
| wolverine | Small, ferocious and impossible to intimidate | 9 / 8 distinct | 3.9 | Medium |
| wombat | Burrowing Australian animal with cube-shaped droppings | 6 / 6 distinct | 6.3 | Medium |
| woodpecker | Drums on tree trunks to find grubs | 10 / 8 distinct | 5.7 | Medium |
| zebra | Striped horse relative of the African plains | 5 / 5 distinct | 5.0 | Medium |
Hard animals words11
Rare letters, few vowels, or almost no repetition for a guesser to lean on.
| Word | Clue | Letters | Score | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| butterfly | Starts as a caterpillar, ends with patterned wings | 9 / 8 distinct | 6.4 | Hard |
| chipmunk | Striped cheek-stuffer of the forest floor | 8 / 8 distinct | 9.3 | Hard |
| dolphin | Clever sea mammal that breathes through a blowhole | 7 / 7 distinct | 6.4 | Hard |
| gecko | Climbs glass thanks to microscopic toe hairs | 5 / 5 distinct | 7.0 | Hard |
| hummingbird | Tiny bird whose wings blur as it hovers | 11 / 9 distinct | 6.6 | Hard |
| jackal | Wild dog that scavenges and hunts alone | 6 / 5 distinct | 8.9 | Hard |
| jellyfish | Drifting sea creature with no brain and no bones | 9 / 8 distinct | 8.3 | Hard |
| lynx | Tufted-eared wild cat with huge snowshoe paws | 4 / 4 distinct | 12.0 | Hard |
| owl | Silent night hunter that turns its head far around | 3 / 3 distinct | 9.0 | Hard |
| platypus | Egg-laying mammal with a duck's bill | 8 / 7 distinct | 6.9 | Hard |
| skunk | Warns first, then sprays something unforgettable | 5 / 4 distinct | 8.3 | Hard |
Questions
What are good animals words for hangman?
The ones that survive a normal opening. A guesser starts with E, A, R and the other common letters, so a good word is one those letters barely touch. On this page that is the score: 85 animals words are listed and 11 of them rate hard.
How many animals words are on this list?
85, deduplicated, each with a clue and a computed difficulty score. They split into 43 easy, 31 medium and 11 hard.
What is the hardest word in this category?
LYNX, at 12.0. The easiest is ANTEATER at -2.1. Both numbers come from the same formula, which is published in full at hangmanwords.net/how-difficulty-is-scored/.
Can I play these words rather than read them?
Yes. The play link on this page loads a game that draws only from this animals list, so every word you get is one of the 85 below.