Jobs hangman words
84 jobs and professions words, each with a clue and a difficulty score computed from its spelling. 59 easy, 20 medium, 5 hard.
Average score
2.8
Across all 84 words
Hardest
judge
Scores 9.0
Easiest
referee
Scores -1.9
Job names are extremely regular. A large share end in -er, -or or -ist, so a guesser who lands the R or the T late in the word often gets the ending free and works backwards from there.
That regularity makes this a fast category, which is useful when you want several rounds rather than one long one. Use it for a warm-up and save countries or funny words for the main event.
The hard ones are the trades rather than the professions. Blacksmith, bricklayer and welder are shorter, less regular and carry consonant clusters that the -ist words do not.
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Easy jobs and professions words59
The usual opening guesses cover most of it, so it tends to fall quickly.
| Word | Clue | Letters | Score | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| accountant | Makes the numbers agree with each other | 10 / 6 distinct | 1.6 | Easy |
| actor | Says someone else's words as if they were theirs | 5 / 5 distinct | 1.8 | Easy |
| analyst | Turns a spreadsheet into an argument | 7 / 6 distinct | 3.1 | Easy |
| animator | Twenty four decisions per second | 8 / 7 distinct | -0.1 | Easy |
| archaeologist | Digs slowly and records everything | 13 / 11 distinct | 1.9 | Easy |
| architect | Draws the building before anybody digs | 9 / 7 distinct | 3.0 | Easy |
| astronaut | Works where a mistake has no margin | 9 / 7 distinct | -0.1 | Easy |
| astronomer | Studies things too far away to visit | 10 / 8 distinct | 0.2 | Easy |
| barber | Cuts hair and holds the conversation | 6 / 4 distinct | 2.7 | Easy |
| barista | Weighs the beans and times the shot | 7 / 6 distinct | 0.6 | Easy |
| bartender | Mixes drinks and listens to a great deal | 9 / 7 distinct | 1.9 | Easy |
| biologist | Studies what is alive and how it works | 9 / 7 distinct | 2.1 | Easy |
| captain | Last to leave, by tradition | 7 / 6 distinct | 2.0 | Easy |
| carpenter | Works wood into something that holds | 9 / 7 distinct | 1.9 | Easy |
| cleaner | The building only works because of them | 7 / 6 distinct | 2.0 | Easy |
| composer | Writes it down for other people to play | 8 / 7 distinct | 3.4 | Easy |
| courier | Everything depends on the last hundred metres | 7 / 6 distinct | 0.9 | Easy |
| curator | Chooses what gets shown and how | 7 / 6 distinct | 2.0 | Easy |
| dentist | Nobody's favourite appointment | 7 / 6 distinct | 1.7 | Easy |
| designer | Decides what it looks like and why | 8 / 7 distinct | 2.1 | Easy |
| detective | Follows the part that does not fit | 9 / 6 distinct | 2.8 | Easy |
| dietitian | Advises on what to eat and why | 9 / 6 distinct | -1.3 | Easy |
| director | Decides what the audience will notice | 8 / 7 distinct | 2.1 | Easy |
| doctor | Diagnoses, treats and explains | 6 / 5 distinct | 3.2 | Easy |
| economist | Explains afterwards why it was obvious | 9 / 8 distinct | 1.3 | Easy |
| editor | Cuts what the writer loves most | 6 / 6 distinct | 0.7 | Easy |
| electrician | The only one who should be touching that | 11 / 8 distinct | 1.3 | Easy |
| engineer | Works out whether it will actually stand up | 8 / 5 distinct | -0.9 | Easy |
| farmer | Answers to weather more than to anyone else | 6 / 5 distinct | 3.2 | Easy |
| firefighter | Runs towards it | 11 / 7 distinct | 2.6 | Easy |
| gardener | Works with time as much as with soil | 8 / 6 distinct | 1.8 | Easy |
| geologist | Reads the landscape as a timeline | 9 / 7 distinct | 2.1 | Easy |
| illustrator | Draws what the words could not carry | 11 / 8 distinct | 2.0 | Easy |
| journalist | Checks it twice before it is printed | 10 / 10 distinct | 3.4 | Easy |
| librarian | Knows where everything is and who has it | 9 / 6 distinct | 0.7 | Easy |
| meteorologist | Wrong publicly, and improving | 13 / 9 distinct | 0.7 | Easy |
| musician | Practises far more than they perform | 8 / 7 distinct | 2.4 | Easy |
| navigator | Knows exactly where you are | 9 / 8 distinct | 2.1 | Easy |
| novelist | Finishes the draft, then starts again | 8 / 8 distinct | 3.3 | Easy |
| nurse | Present for the whole of it | 5 / 5 distinct | 1.8 | Easy |
| optician | Better with one, or with two | 8 / 7 distinct | 1.1 | Easy |
| painter | Preparation takes longer than the painting | 7 / 7 distinct | 1.0 | Easy |
| paramedic | First to arrive when it matters most | 9 / 8 distinct | 3.6 | Easy |
| photographer | Waits for the light | 12 / 8 distinct | 3.5 | Easy |
| postman | Knows every gate that sticks | 7 / 7 distinct | 3.6 | Easy |
| professor | Teaches and publishes, in that order officially | 9 / 6 distinct | 1.6 | Easy |
| receptionist | The first person anyone meets | 12 / 9 distinct | 0.6 | Easy |
| referee | Right or wrong, decides instantly | 7 / 3 distinct | -1.9 | Easy |
| researcher | Reads everything before adding anything | 10 / 6 distinct | 0.6 | Easy |
| salesman | Persuades, and knows the product | 8 / 6 distinct | 1.8 | Easy |
| scientist | Designs experiments that can prove them wrong | 9 / 6 distinct | 0.4 | Easy |
| soldier | Trains for something they hope never happens | 7 / 7 distinct | 2.4 | Easy |
| surgeon | Operates, having planned every step | 7 / 7 distinct | 2.4 | Easy |
| tailor | Alters until it fits one person exactly | 6 / 6 distinct | 0.7 | Easy |
| teacher | Explains it a second time, differently | 7 / 6 distinct | 2.0 | Easy |
| therapist | Asks the question nobody else asked | 9 / 8 distinct | 2.2 | Easy |
| translator | Carries meaning across, not just words | 10 / 7 distinct | 0.7 | Easy |
| veterinarian | The patient cannot describe the symptoms | 12 / 7 distinct | -0.6 | Easy |
| waiter | Remembers everything without writing it down | 6 / 6 distinct | 1.7 | Easy |
Medium jobs and professions words20
You will get a foothold, then have to work out the rest properly.
| Word | Clue | Letters | Score | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| baker | Starts work while everyone else sleeps | 5 / 5 distinct | 5.0 | Medium |
| banker | Moves money and manages risk | 6 / 6 distinct | 4.7 | Medium |
| bricklayer | Course by course, always checking level | 10 / 9 distinct | 6.0 | Medium |
| coach | Sees what the player cannot | 5 / 4 distinct | 5.2 | Medium |
| conductor | Makes no sound and shapes all of it | 9 / 7 distinct | 4.1 | Medium |
| dancer | Trains for years for four minutes | 6 / 6 distinct | 3.7 | Medium |
| developer | Builds, breaks and rebuilds it | 9 / 7 distinct | 4.1 | Medium |
| driver | Gets it there, on time | 6 / 5 distinct | 4.4 | Medium |
| fisherman | Out before dawn, weather permitting | 9 / 9 distinct | 3.7 | Medium |
| jeweller | Works in millimetres and magnification | 8 / 5 distinct | 6.3 | Medium |
| lawyer | Reads what everyone else skipped | 6 / 6 distinct | 6.3 | Medium |
| lifeguard | Watches water for hours and hopes to be bored | 9 / 9 distinct | 5.0 | Medium |
| mechanic | Diagnoses by listening as much as looking | 8 / 7 distinct | 4.6 | Medium |
| midwife | Present for the very beginning | 7 / 6 distinct | 5.9 | Medium |
| pharmacist | Knows what interacts with what | 10 / 9 distinct | 4.3 | Medium |
| pilot | Checks the list even after ten thousand hours | 5 / 5 distinct | 3.8 | Medium |
| producer | Finds the money and keeps the schedule | 8 / 7 distinct | 4.6 | Medium |
| programmer | Writes instructions precise enough for a machine | 10 / 7 distinct | 3.7 | Medium |
| surveyor | Measures the land before the plans are drawn | 8 / 7 distinct | 4.2 | Medium |
| welder | Joins metal with heat and a very dark visor | 6 / 5 distinct | 6.0 | Medium |
Hard jobs and professions words5
Rare letters, few vowels, or almost no repetition for a guesser to lean on.
| Word | Clue | Letters | Score | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| blacksmith | Shapes hot metal with hammer and anvil | 10 / 10 distinct | 8.0 | Hard |
| butcher | Knows every cut and how to use it | 7 / 7 distinct | 6.4 | Hard |
| chef | Runs the kitchen and the timing | 4 / 4 distinct | 8.5 | Hard |
| judge | Decides, having heard both sides | 5 / 5 distinct | 9.0 | Hard |
| plumber | Arrives when water is somewhere it should not be | 7 / 7 distinct | 7.9 | Hard |
Questions
What are good jobs and professions 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: 84 jobs and professions words are listed and 5 of them rate hard.
How many jobs and professions words are on this list?
84, deduplicated, each with a clue and a computed difficulty score. They split into 59 easy, 20 medium and 5 hard.
What is the hardest word in this category?
JUDGE, at 9.0. The easiest is REFEREE at -1.9. 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 jobs list, so every word you get is one of the 84 below.