Phrases hangman words
86 phrases and idioms words, each with a clue and a difficulty score computed from its spelling. 82 easy, 4 medium, 0 hard.
Average score
1.3
Across all 86 words
Hardest
rule of thumb
Scores 5.0
Easiest
see eye to eye
Scores -3.7
Phrases play by different rules. The word breaks are visible from the start, so a guesser can see they are looking at three words of four, two and five letters before they guess anything at all.
That makes short function words the way in. THE, A, OF and TO appear constantly, and a guesser who spots a two-letter gap and tries O and F will often break the whole phrase open in one move.
Because of that, a good hangman phrase is one where the content words carry the difficulty and the function words are few. Idioms with a single long unusual word in the middle play best.
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Easy phrases and idioms words82
The usual opening guesses cover most of it, so it tends to fall quickly.
| Word | Clue | Letters | Score | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| a blessing in disguise | Turned out well after looking bad | 19 / 10 distinct | -0.4 | Easy |
| a drop in the ocean | Far too small to matter | 15 / 11 distinct | -0.9 | Easy |
| a piece of the puzzle | One part of a larger picture | 17 / 12 distinct | 2.1 | Easy |
| actions speak louder than words | What you do counts more | 27 / 16 distinct | 0.9 | Easy |
| add fuel to the fire | Make a bad situation worse | 16 / 11 distinct | 0.9 | Easy |
| against the clock | Racing a deadline | 15 / 12 distinct | 3.0 | Easy |
| ahead of the curve | Earlier than everybody else | 15 / 11 distinct | 1.9 | Easy |
| all ears | Listening closely | 7 / 5 distinct | 1.0 | Easy |
| all in the same boat | Everyone faces the same situation | 16 / 11 distinct | -0.3 | Easy |
| at the drop of a hat | Immediately, with no preparation | 15 / 9 distinct | -0.1 | Easy |
| back to square one | Right where you started | 15 / 12 distinct | 1.2 | Easy |
| back to the drawing board | Start the plan again | 21 / 14 distinct | 2.5 | Easy |
| barking up the wrong tree | Pursuing entirely the wrong idea | 21 / 14 distinct | 2.0 | Easy |
| beat around the bush | Avoid saying the actual thing | 17 / 11 distinct | 1.0 | Easy |
| best of both worlds | Two advantages at once | 16 / 11 distinct | 3.2 | Easy |
| better late than never | Late still beats not at all | 19 / 9 distinct | -0.6 | Easy |
| bite the bullet | Do the unpleasant thing and get it over with | 13 / 7 distinct | 1.9 | Easy |
| blessing and a curse | Good and bad at the same time | 17 / 12 distinct | 1.0 | Easy |
| break the ice | Get the first awkward moment out of the way | 11 / 9 distinct | 1.9 | Easy |
| burning the midnight oil | Working very late | 21 / 13 distinct | 1.7 | Easy |
| by the skin of your teeth | Only just, and barely | 20 / 13 distinct | 1.6 | Easy |
| call it a day | Stop working for now | 10 / 7 distinct | 2.1 | Easy |
| catch someone red handed | Caught during the act | 21 / 11 distinct | 0.5 | Easy |
| clear as mud | Not clear in the slightest | 10 / 9 distinct | 3.3 | Easy |
| cost an arm and a leg | Far too expensive | 16 / 12 distinct | 0.4 | Easy |
| cross that bridge when we come to it | Deal with it later | 29 / 15 distinct | 0.6 | Easy |
| cut corners | Save effort at the cost of quality | 10 / 8 distinct | 2.4 | Easy |
| down to earth | Practical and unpretentious | 11 / 9 distinct | 1.7 | Easy |
| easy does it | Slow down and be careful | 10 / 8 distinct | -0.8 | Easy |
| every cloud has a silver lining | Something good is in there somewhere | 26 / 15 distinct | 1.3 | Easy |
| face the music | Accept the consequences | 12 / 10 distinct | 3.0 | Easy |
| get a taste of your own medicine | Receive what you have been giving | 26 / 16 distinct | -0.4 | Easy |
| get out of hand | Stop being controllable | 12 / 10 distinct | 1.5 | Easy |
| go the extra mile | Do more than required | 14 / 11 distinct | 1.3 | Easy |
| hang in there | Keep going through the difficult part | 11 / 8 distinct | 0.8 | Easy |
| hit the ground running | Start at full speed | 19 / 10 distinct | 0.9 | Easy |
| hit the nail on the head | Get it exactly right | 19 / 9 distinct | -0.8 | Easy |
| hit the sack | Go to bed | 10 / 8 distinct | 3.5 | Easy |
| in the nick of time | Just before it was too late | 15 / 10 distinct | 0.7 | Easy |
| it takes two to tango | Both people are involved | 17 / 10 distinct | -0.6 | Easy |
| keep your chin up | Stay hopeful | 14 / 11 distinct | 3.4 | Easy |
| kill two birds with one stone | Solve two problems in one action | 24 / 13 distinct | 1.2 | Easy |
| last straw | The small thing that ended it | 9 / 6 distinct | 2.8 | Easy |
| learn the ropes | Pick up how it is actually done | 13 / 10 distinct | 0.3 | Easy |
| leave no stone unturned | Check absolutely everything | 20 / 11 distinct | -0.7 | Easy |
| let the cat out of the bag | Reveal the secret by accident | 20 / 11 distinct | 0.5 | Easy |
| long story short | The compressed version | 14 / 9 distinct | 1.9 | Easy |
| make a long story short | Skip to the point | 19 / 13 distinct | 1.1 | Easy |
| miss the boat | Be too late for the opportunity | 11 / 9 distinct | 1.1 | Easy |
| never judge a book by its cover | Appearance is not evidence | 25 / 17 distinct | 2.3 | Easy |
| no pain no gain | Progress costs effort | 12 / 6 distinct | -2.6 | Easy |
| off the top of my head | Without checking | 17 / 10 distinct | 2.2 | Easy |
| on the ball | Alert and keeping up | 9 / 8 distinct | 3.2 | Easy |
| on thin ice | One mistake from real trouble | 9 / 7 distinct | -0.2 | Easy |
| once bitten twice shy | One bad experience makes you cautious | 18 / 11 distinct | 1.3 | Easy |
| once in a blue moon | Very rarely indeed | 15 / 10 distinct | -0.9 | Easy |
| out of the blue | With no warning at all | 12 / 8 distinct | 1.2 | Easy |
| piece of cake | Something far easier than expected | 11 / 8 distinct | 1.9 | Easy |
| playing devils advocate | Arguing the other side on purpose | 21 / 14 distinct | 2.9 | Easy |
| practice makes perfect | Repetition is the method | 20 / 11 distinct | 2.2 | Easy |
| pull yourself together | Regain your composure | 20 / 12 distinct | 2.8 | Easy |
| put all your eggs in one basket | Risk everything on one option | 25 / 15 distinct | 1.0 | Easy |
| read between the lines | Find the meaning that was not written | 19 / 12 distinct | -0.1 | Easy |
| ring a bell | Sound vaguely familiar | 9 / 8 distinct | 3.2 | Easy |
| see eye to eye | Agree completely | 11 / 5 distinct | -3.7 | Easy |
| sit on the fence | Refuse to pick a side | 13 / 9 distinct | -0.5 | Easy |
| so far so good | Nothing has gone wrong yet | 11 / 7 distinct | -0.8 | Easy |
| speak of the devil | The person you mentioned has arrived | 15 / 13 distinct | 3.2 | Easy |
| spill the beans | Give away the information | 13 / 10 distinct | 2.5 | Easy |
| take a rain check | Not now, but another time | 14 / 9 distinct | 0.9 | Easy |
| take it with a grain of salt | Do not fully believe it | 22 / 14 distinct | 0.2 | Easy |
| the ball is in your court | It is your decision now | 20 / 14 distinct | 0.9 | Easy |
| the tip of the iceberg | The small visible part of a large problem | 18 / 11 distinct | 0.6 | Easy |
| the whole nine yards | Absolutely all of it | 17 / 13 distinct | 1.7 | Easy |
| throw in the towel | Give up | 15 / 9 distinct | 1.3 | Easy |
| time flies | It went faster than it should have | 9 / 7 distinct | 1.5 | Easy |
| two peas in a pod | Extremely alike | 13 / 10 distinct | 0.3 | Easy |
| under the weather | Not seriously ill, but not right either | 15 / 9 distinct | 1.4 | Easy |
| under your nose | Right there and you missed it | 13 / 8 distinct | 0.0 | Easy |
| wild goose chase | A pursuit that was never going to work | 14 / 11 distinct | 2.6 | Easy |
| wrap your head around | Finally understand something difficult | 18 / 11 distinct | 1.5 | Easy |
| you can say that again | Complete agreement | 18 / 11 distinct | -0.4 | Easy |
Medium phrases and idioms words4
You will get a foothold, then have to work out the rest properly.
| Word | Clue | Letters | Score | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| bend over backwards | Try extremely hard to help | 17 / 12 distinct | 4.8 | Medium |
| jump on the bandwagon | Join because everyone else has | 18 / 14 distinct | 3.7 | Medium |
| rule of thumb | A rough guide that usually works | 11 / 10 distinct | 5.0 | Medium |
| saved by the bell | Rescued at the last moment | 14 / 10 distinct | 4.4 | Medium |
Questions
What are good phrases and idioms 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: 86 phrases and idioms words are listed and 0 of them rate hard.
How many phrases and idioms words are on this list?
86, deduplicated, each with a clue and a computed difficulty score. They split into 82 easy, 4 medium and 0 hard.
What is the hardest word in this category?
RULE OF THUMB, at 5.0. The easiest is SEE EYE TO EYE at -3.7. 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 phrases list, so every word you get is one of the 86 below.