Food & Drink hangman words
83 food and drink words, each with a clue and a difficulty score computed from its spelling. 46 easy, 25 medium, 12 hard.
Average score
3.6
Across all 83 words
Hardest
dumpling
Scores 8.5
Easiest
risotto
Scores -1.3
Food is the category where borrowed words do the damage. English kitchen vocabulary is stitched together from Italian, French, Spanish, Japanese and Arabic, and the spellings came along unchanged. Gnocchi, courgette and baklava all break the letter patterns a guesser expects from English.
That makes this a good category for a mixed group. The everyday half is easy enough for a child, and the borrowed half is genuinely difficult for an adult. Filter by score rather than by whether you have eaten the thing.
Watch for doubled letters. Broccoli, spaghetti and mozzarella all hide a double consonant, and a guesser who finds one L or one C will frequently forget to check whether there is a second.
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Easy food and drink words46
The usual opening guesses cover most of it, so it tends to fall quickly.
| Word | Clue | Letters | Score | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| artichoke | You eat it one leaf at a time | 9 / 9 distinct | 3.4 | Easy |
| asparagus | Green spears that arrive for only a few weeks | 9 / 6 distinct | 1.8 | Easy |
| aubergine | Glossy purple vegetable, called eggplant elsewhere | 9 / 8 distinct | 1.6 | Easy |
| avocado | Green, creamy, and famously hard to time | 7 / 5 distinct | 3.1 | Easy |
| baguette | Long crusty loaf carried under one arm | 8 / 6 distinct | 2.0 | Easy |
| biryani | Layered rice and spiced meat cooked sealed | 7 / 6 distinct | 2.0 | Easy |
| biscuit | Baked, sweet, and dangerous near a cup of tea | 7 / 6 distinct | 3.4 | Easy |
| brownie | Dense chocolate square, ideally still gooey | 7 / 7 distinct | 3.3 | Easy |
| burrito | A whole meal rolled inside a tortilla | 7 / 6 distinct | 2.0 | Easy |
| calamari | Squid, sliced into rings and fried | 8 / 6 distinct | 2.0 | Easy |
| caramel | What sugar becomes when you cook it just far enough | 7 / 6 distinct | 3.4 | Easy |
| cheesecake | Set cream cheese over a crumb base | 10 / 6 distinct | 2.8 | Easy |
| chocolate | Ground cacao turned into the world's favourite treat | 9 / 7 distinct | 3.2 | Easy |
| cinnamon | Warm brown spice peeled from tree bark | 8 / 6 distinct | 1.8 | Easy |
| coriander | Herb that tastes like soap to some people | 9 / 8 distinct | 1.3 | Easy |
| courgette | Mild green summer squash, zucchini by another name | 9 / 7 distinct | 2.1 | Easy |
| couscous | Tiny steamed semolina grains from North Africa | 8 / 4 distinct | 2.5 | Easy |
| croissant | Flaky buttery crescent from a French bakery | 9 / 8 distinct | 1.1 | Easy |
| enchilada | Rolled tortilla baked under chilli sauce | 9 / 8 distinct | 3.6 | Easy |
| espresso | Small, dark, and pushed through under pressure | 8 / 5 distinct | 0.1 | Easy |
| lasagne | Layers of pasta, sauce and cheese, baked | 7 / 6 distinct | 2.0 | Easy |
| lemonade | Sharp fruit, sugar and water over ice | 8 / 7 distinct | 2.4 | Easy |
| liquorice | Black sweet with a taste people rarely feel neutral about | 9 / 8 distinct | 3.4 | Easy |
| meringue | Whipped egg white and sugar, baked crisp | 8 / 7 distinct | 2.4 | Easy |
| noodle | Long strand of dough, boiled or fried | 6 / 5 distinct | 1.8 | Easy |
| nougat | Chewy sweet of egg white, honey and nuts | 6 / 6 distinct | 2.3 | Easy |
| omelette | Eggs beaten, cooked flat and folded | 8 / 5 distinct | 0.4 | Easy |
| oregano | Dried herb that defines a pizza's smell | 7 / 6 distinct | -0.6 | Easy |
| paella | Saffron rice cooked wide and shallow over fire | 6 / 4 distinct | 3.0 | Easy |
| parmesan | Hard aged cheese grated over almost anything | 8 / 7 distinct | 2.1 | Easy |
| pepperoni | Spicy cured sausage that curls on a pizza | 9 / 6 distinct | 1.8 | Easy |
| pineapple | Spiky outside, sweet yellow rings inside | 9 / 6 distinct | 2.9 | Easy |
| porridge | Oats and liquid, stirred until thick | 8 / 7 distinct | 3.4 | Easy |
| prosciutto | Ham cured by air and time, sliced almost transparent | 10 / 8 distinct | 2.2 | Easy |
| ramen | Noodles in a broth simmered for hours | 5 / 5 distinct | 1.8 | Easy |
| ravioli | Pasta parcels with something hidden inside | 7 / 6 distinct | 1.9 | Easy |
| risotto | Rice stirred slowly until it turns creamy | 7 / 5 distinct | -1.3 | Easy |
| rosemary | Woody herb with needle-like leaves | 8 / 7 distinct | 2.1 | Easy |
| saffron | The world's most expensive spice, picked by hand | 7 / 6 distinct | 3.1 | Easy |
| samosa | Fried triangular pastry with a savoury filling | 6 / 4 distinct | -0.3 | Easy |
| smoothie | Fruit blended until you can drink it | 8 / 7 distinct | 1.1 | Easy |
| spaghetti | Long thin pasta, best twirled onto a fork | 9 / 8 distinct | 3.3 | Easy |
| sushi | Vinegared rice with fish, rolled or pressed | 5 / 4 distinct | 3.2 | Easy |
| tiramisu | Coffee-soaked layers under mascarpone | 8 / 7 distinct | 1.1 | Easy |
| turmeric | Golden root that stains everything it touches | 8 / 7 distinct | 3.4 | Easy |
| watermelon | Enormous summer fruit that is mostly water | 10 / 9 distinct | 3.2 | Easy |
Medium food and drink words25
You will get a foothold, then have to work out the rest properly.
| Word | Clue | Letters | Score | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| blueberry | Small dark berry sold by the punnet | 9 / 6 distinct | 4.9 | Medium |
| broccoli | Little green trees your parents insisted on | 8 / 6 distinct | 4.3 | Medium |
| cappuccino | Espresso under steamed and foamed milk | 10 / 7 distinct | 4.9 | Medium |
| cauliflower | Pale head of tight florets, roasts beautifully | 11 / 10 distinct | 5.2 | Medium |
| cheddar | Firm cheese named after an English gorge | 7 / 6 distinct | 6.0 | Medium |
| chorizo | Spanish sausage coloured deep red by paprika | 7 / 6 distinct | 4.4 | Medium |
| custard | Thick sweet sauce of eggs, milk and sugar | 7 / 7 distinct | 5.0 | Medium |
| doughnut | Fried ring of dough, usually glazed | 8 / 7 distinct | 5.9 | Medium |
| falafel | Fried spiced chickpea balls in a flatbread | 7 / 4 distinct | 4.0 | Medium |
| gnocchi | Little potato dumplings, soft and pillowy | 7 / 6 distinct | 6.0 | Medium |
| guacamole | Mashed avocado with lime, onion and chilli | 9 / 8 distinct | 3.8 | Medium |
| halloumi | Cheese firm enough to grill without melting | 8 / 7 distinct | 4.9 | Medium |
| marzipan | Sweet almond paste that gets rolled thin | 8 / 7 distinct | 4.2 | Medium |
| mozzarella | Soft white cheese that stretches when melted | 10 / 7 distinct | 4.8 | Medium |
| mushroom | Grows in the dark and is not a plant at all | 8 / 6 distinct | 4.3 | Medium |
| pancake | Batter poured flat and flipped in a pan | 7 / 6 distinct | 4.4 | Medium |
| paprika | Ground red pepper, sweet or smoked | 7 / 5 distinct | 4.2 | Medium |
| parsley | Green herb used as much for colour as flavour | 7 / 7 distinct | 5.0 | Medium |
| popcorn | Kernels that explode when heated | 7 / 5 distinct | 4.1 | Medium |
| pretzel | Salted bread knotted into a loop | 7 / 6 distinct | 5.6 | Medium |
| raspberry | Soft red berry that collapses if you look at it | 9 / 7 distinct | 3.9 | Medium |
| salmon | Pink oily fish that swims upstream to spawn | 6 / 6 distinct | 3.7 | Medium |
| strawberry | Red berry that wears its seeds on the outside | 10 / 8 distinct | 4.5 | Medium |
| tempura | Light batter, hot oil, vegetables or prawns | 7 / 7 distinct | 3.9 | Medium |
| vanilla | Pod from an orchid, the opposite of plain | 7 / 5 distinct | 4.2 | Medium |
Hard food and drink words12
Rare letters, few vowels, or almost no repetition for a guesser to lean on.
| Word | Clue | Letters | Score | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| anchovy | Tiny salted fish with an enormous flavour | 7 / 7 distinct | 7.3 | Hard |
| baklava | Layered pastry soaked in honey and nuts | 7 / 5 distinct | 6.8 | Hard |
| chutney | Sweet-sharp preserve served alongside | 7 / 7 distinct | 6.4 | Hard |
| cucumber | Long green salad vegetable, cool and mild | 8 / 6 distinct | 6.8 | Hard |
| curry | Spiced sauce dish with countless regional forms | 5 / 4 distinct | 6.8 | Hard |
| dumpling | Filling wrapped in dough and steamed or fried | 8 / 8 distinct | 8.5 | Hard |
| hummus | Blended chickpeas, tahini, lemon and garlic | 6 / 4 distinct | 7.7 | Hard |
| muffin | Individual cake baked in a paper case | 6 / 5 distinct | 6.5 | Hard |
| pumpkin | Autumn squash that also becomes a lantern | 7 / 6 distinct | 8.4 | Hard |
| sandwich | Named after an earl who did not want to stop playing cards | 8 / 8 distinct | 6.8 | Hard |
| waffle | Batter cooked in a grid that holds syrup | 6 / 5 distinct | 7.7 | Hard |
| yoghurt | Milk cultured into something thick and tangy | 7 / 7 distinct | 6.4 | Hard |
Questions
What are good food and drink 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: 83 food and drink words are listed and 12 of them rate hard.
How many food and drink words are on this list?
83, deduplicated, each with a clue and a computed difficulty score. They split into 46 easy, 25 medium and 12 hard.
What is the hardest word in this category?
DUMPLING, at 8.5. The easiest is RISOTTO at -1.3. 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 food & drink list, so every word you get is one of the 83 below.