Not at all! We've got six winning words that let you score up to 22 points of Q without having to wait for the rarest vowel in the tile bag to pop out and join it.
English Words With Q and No U
We don't want to overwhelm you with a large quantity of Q and no U words. Just keep these six short Q words in your back pocket and you'll be quids in the next time you need to play a lonely Q. Checking our Scrabble cheat and Words With Friends cheat tools will confirm they're valid plays in both popular word games:
Qadi - Originally Arabic, qadi means judge, both as a noun and a verb. It’s also a Q followed by three common letters, making it a great foundation word to set up later moves. Unscramble the letters in "qadi" and you'll also get "qaid" as a valid word to play.
Qanat - Courtesy of Persia, a qanat is an underground channel or aqueduct with wells drilled into it. It’s also five letters long and relies on common letters, perfect to build up strong future plays.
Qat - Alternatively spelled “khat,” qat is a mild stimulant derived from chewing a particular plant native to Asia and Africa. Think chewing tobacco, but leafier. Whatever your stance on stimulants mild and otherwise, qat is almost the perfect Scrabble or Words With Friends play — 12 points guaranteed from one lucky draw and two of the most common letters in the game. This is one word from the Scrabble dictionary that'll certainly come in handy.
Qi - It’s not just a charming British quiz show. Qi is one of several valid spellings, including ki and chi, for the concept of energy in traditional Chinese medicine. Acupuncture balances it, feng shui and tai chi move it around, and Scrabble or Words With Friends lets you play it for an easy 11 points.
QWERTY - That felt funny to type. Believe it or not, QWERTY isn’t just a pretty arbitrary artifact of modern keyboards. It’s a game-legal word, specifically an adjective: of or relating to the traditional layout of computer keys that puts Q W E R T Y in the upper left-hand side. It’s also the longest word on this list, worth a frankly nonsensical 20/21 points without bonuses. Even better, just add an S on the end for a seven-letter stunner. Yes, QWERTYS is a word too!
Tranq - No fun etymologies or one-sentence history lessons here. Tranq is good, old-fashioned American slang worth 14/15 points. It’s short for “tranquilizer” or “tranquilized,” usually in the context of medicine and drugs. Since it ends in Q, it’s also a perfect setup for any of the other words on this list.
Top Tip: Most Q-without-U words contain an A or an I, so if you see those letters open on the board there’s an opportunity to throw down that tricky Q and score big.
Q-Without-U Words Help you Win
The letter Q can be a pain if the U to match up with it never seems to arrive. Remember these six little words to turn that obstacle into a serious point bump for your Scrabble or Words With Friends game.
If these aren’t enough, WordFinder has lots more words with Q not followed by U for you to throw down. If even that can’t satisfy your hunger for curious Qs, don’t forget to drop that letter and up to 14 others into WordFinder's cheat tool to get every possible legal play.
Matt Salter has been a professional writer for over 10 years. He is a gaming and technology expert, and world-class word nerd.
