Technology hangman words
82 technology words, each with a clue and a difficulty score computed from its spelling. 42 easy, 35 medium, 5 hard.
Average score
3.5
Across all 82 words
Hardest
backup
Scores 9.7
Easiest
animation
Scores -1.3
Technology vocabulary is newer than any other category here, and it shows. The words were largely coined rather than inherited, so they follow English spelling rules closely and rarely surprise a guesser.
The difficulty is concentrated in a handful of terms with awkward middles. Encryption, bandwidth and compiler all break the rhythm, and the K and Z words that make other categories hard are almost absent.
If you want this category to be difficult, filter to hard and accept a short list. It is the easiest of the sixteen on average, which is worth knowing before you use it against someone who plays a lot.
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Easy technology words42
The usual opening guesses cover most of it, so it tends to fall quickly.
| Word | Clue | Letters | Score | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| animation | Still pictures, fast enough to fool you | 9 / 6 distinct | -1.3 | Easy |
| automation | Doing it once so it never has to be done again | 10 / 7 distinct | -0.7 | Easy |
| battery | Stores charge and then does not have enough | 7 / 6 distinct | 3.1 | Easy |
| bluetooth | Short range, low power, named after a king | 9 / 7 distinct | 3.2 | Easy |
| camera | A box, a lens and a sensor | 6 / 5 distinct | 1.8 | Easy |
| circuit | A complete loop for current to travel | 7 / 5 distinct | 3.0 | Easy |
| compression | Making it smaller without losing what matters | 11 / 9 distinct | 2.3 | Easy |
| cursor | The blinking line waiting for you | 6 / 5 distinct | 3.2 | Easy |
| database | Structured storage you can ask questions of | 8 / 6 distinct | 0.8 | Easy |
| emulator | Pretends to be different hardware | 8 / 8 distinct | 2.8 | Easy |
| encryption | Readable only by whoever holds the key | 10 / 9 distinct | 3.3 | Easy |
| engineer | Works out whether it will actually hold | 8 / 5 distinct | -0.9 | Easy |
| ethernet | The cable that is still faster | 8 / 5 distinct | 0.1 | Easy |
| headphones | Two speakers and some privacy | 10 / 8 distinct | 3.2 | Easy |
| interface | Where two things have to agree to meet | 9 / 8 distinct | 1.3 | Easy |
| microphone | Turns air pressure into a signal | 10 / 9 distinct | 3.5 | Easy |
| monitor | Shows you what the machine is thinking | 7 / 6 distinct | 0.6 | Easy |
| printer | Works perfectly until you need it | 7 / 6 distinct | 1.7 | Easy |
| processor | The part that actually does the arithmetic | 9 / 6 distinct | 1.6 | Easy |
| protocol | The rules both ends already agreed to | 8 / 6 distinct | 3.0 | Easy |
| prototype | Built to be thrown away | 9 / 6 distinct | 2.7 | Easy |
| resolution | How many pixels there are to work with | 10 / 9 distinct | 0.7 | Easy |
| robotics | Machines that sense, decide and move | 8 / 7 distinct | 2.1 | Easy |
| router | Decides where every packet goes next | 6 / 5 distinct | 0.2 | Easy |
| satellite | Puts a transmitter above the weather | 9 / 6 distinct | 0.7 | Easy |
| scanner | Turns paper back into a file | 7 / 6 distinct | 1.7 | Easy |
| screenshot | Proof, or at least a picture of it | 10 / 8 distinct | 2.0 | Easy |
| server | A computer whose job is to answer other computers | 6 / 4 distinct | 2.5 | Easy |
| simulation | A model detailed enough to be useful | 10 / 9 distinct | 1.7 | Easy |
| software | The part you can only blame | 8 / 8 distinct | 3.3 | Easy |
| speaker | Turns the signal back into air pressure | 7 / 6 distinct | 3.0 | Easy |
| storage | Slow, permanent, and always nearly full | 7 / 7 distinct | 1.0 | Easy |
| streaming | Playing it before it has all arrived | 9 / 9 distinct | 2.6 | Easy |
| tablet | A screen you hold | 6 / 5 distinct | 3.2 | Easy |
| telemetry | Measurements sent home automatically | 9 / 6 distinct | 2.7 | Easy |
| telescope | Collects light from very far away | 9 / 7 distinct | 2.1 | Easy |
| template | The shape before the content | 8 / 6 distinct | 3.0 | Easy |
| terminal | Where the text-only work still happens | 8 / 8 distinct | 2.5 | Easy |
| transistor | A switch with no moving parts | 10 / 7 distinct | -0.3 | Easy |
| version | Which one of these are we talking about | 7 / 7 distinct | 1.9 | Easy |
| website | Pages that agree to live at one address | 7 / 6 distinct | 3.0 | Easy |
| wireless | The same data, without the cable | 8 / 6 distinct | 2.8 | Easy |
Medium technology words35
You will get a foothold, then have to work out the rest properly.
| Word | Clue | Letters | Score | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| algorithm | A finite set of steps that always finishes | 9 / 9 distinct | 4.8 | Medium |
| binary | Two states, and everything built from them | 6 / 6 distinct | 3.7 | Medium |
| blueprint | The plan, before anything is built | 9 / 9 distinct | 4.8 | Medium |
| browser | The window most of the internet arrives through | 7 / 6 distinct | 4.1 | Medium |
| buffering | The three most annoying dots | 9 / 8 distinct | 5.6 | Medium |
| charger | Never in the room you are in | 7 / 6 distinct | 4.6 | Medium |
| clipboard | Holds exactly one thing, badly | 9 / 9 distinct | 5.9 | Medium |
| compiler | Turns what you wrote into what it runs | 8 / 8 distinct | 5.0 | Medium |
| computer | It only ever does exactly what it was told | 8 / 8 distinct | 5.0 | Medium |
| dashboard | Everything important, on one screen | 9 / 7 distinct | 4.1 | Medium |
| debugging | Finding out what you actually wrote | 9 / 7 distinct | 6.3 | Medium |
| developer | Builds it, breaks it, rebuilds it | 9 / 7 distinct | 4.1 | Medium |
| download | Bringing it to your machine | 8 / 6 distinct | 5.3 | Medium |
| firewall | Decides what is allowed through | 8 / 7 distinct | 5.5 | Medium |
| firmware | Software that thinks it is hardware | 8 / 7 distinct | 4.2 | Medium |
| gigabyte | About a thousand megabytes, roughly | 8 / 7 distinct | 4.6 | Medium |
| graphics | Everything that has to be drawn | 8 / 8 distinct | 6.0 | Medium |
| hardware | The part you can drop | 8 / 6 distinct | 4.0 | Medium |
| hologram | An image with depth recorded into it | 8 / 7 distinct | 4.6 | Medium |
| keyboard | Where the letters live | 8 / 8 distinct | 5.8 | Medium |
| keyboard shortcut | The fast way nobody taught you | 16 / 13 distinct | 4.2 | Medium |
| laptop | A computer that folds | 6 / 5 distinct | 4.8 | Medium |
| latency | How long before anything happens at all | 7 / 7 distinct | 5.0 | Medium |
| malware | Software written to work against you | 7 / 6 distinct | 4.4 | Medium |
| megabyte | About a million bytes, roughly | 8 / 7 distinct | 4.6 | Medium |
| memory | Fast, temporary, and gone when the power goes | 6 / 5 distinct | 4.8 | Medium |
| microchip | Millions of switches on a fingernail | 9 / 7 distinct | 5.2 | Medium |
| modem | Translates between your network and the line | 5 / 4 distinct | 5.2 | Medium |
| network | Machines that agree on how to talk | 7 / 7 distinct | 5.3 | Medium |
| password | The thing everybody reuses | 8 / 7 distinct | 5.2 | Medium |
| podcast | Audio you subscribe to | 7 / 7 distinct | 5.0 | Medium |
| smartphone | A computer that occasionally makes calls | 10 / 10 distinct | 3.6 | Medium |
| update | Fixes three things and breaks one | 6 / 6 distinct | 4.0 | Medium |
| upload | Sending it away from your machine | 6 / 6 distinct | 5.7 | Medium |
| voltage | The push behind the current | 7 / 7 distinct | 4.7 | Medium |
Hard technology words5
Rare letters, few vowels, or almost no repetition for a guesser to lean on.
| Word | Clue | Letters | Score | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| backup | The thing you only value once | 6 / 6 distinct | 9.7 | Hard |
| bandwidth | How much can pass through at once | 9 / 8 distinct | 7.2 | Hard |
| hyperlink | The idea the whole web is built on | 9 / 9 distinct | 7.4 | Hard |
| pixel | The smallest thing a screen can colour | 5 / 5 distinct | 7.0 | Hard |
| plugin | Something bolted on afterwards | 6 / 6 distinct | 7.0 | Hard |
Questions
What are good technology 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: 82 technology words are listed and 5 of them rate hard.
How many technology words are on this list?
82, deduplicated, each with a clue and a computed difficulty score. They split into 42 easy, 35 medium and 5 hard.
What is the hardest word in this category?
BACKUP, at 9.7. The easiest is ANIMATION 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 technology list, so every word you get is one of the 82 below.