Words with Q and No U

In English a Q is almost always followed by a U, so the handful of words that break the rule are worth memorizing. Nearly all of them are borrowed from other languages: qat is a shrub whose leaves are chewed as a stimulant, a qanat is an underground irrigation channel, qoph is a letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and qindar and qintar are small units of Albanian money.

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Showing all 21 words. Tap a word for its definition.

8-letter words 2 words

7-letter words 3 words

6-letter words 7 words

5-letter words 5 words

4-letter words 3 words

3-letter words 1 word

About these words

A few are English inventions, like tranq (short for tranquilizer) and qwerty (the standard keyboard layout). These words are especially handy in tile games when you hold a Q and no U.

Our list comes from the open ENABLE word list. Some newer game dictionaries accept extra words such as qi, which ENABLE does not include, so check the rules of the game you are playing.

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Definitions from Open English WordNet (CC BY 4.0), shortened.