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WOW24 Unified Scrabble Dictionary — Zyzzyva Import

A NASPA Zyzzyva-compatible word list built on the WOW24 tournament lexicon (WGPO Official Words 2024, 195,059 words) with rich definitions drawn from the Petree OWL 2.1 extended dictionary and Wiktionary.

Tested with NASPA Zyzzyva Version 3.4.1 (© 2005–2023 North American Word Game Players Association, D/B/A NASPA Games. <https://www.scrabbleplayers.org/zyzzyva/>)

Dictionary version: 27

Importing into Zyzzyva

1. Double click on WOW24-Zyzzyva-Import.zip to de-compress it.
2. Open NASPA Zyzzyva (Version 3.4.1 or later recommended)
3. Choose Zyzzyva → Preferences…
4. Under "General" Click on the "Edit" Button
5. Select the file WOW24-Zyzzyva-Import.txt
6. Zyzzyva will import all 195,059 entries with their definitions
7. At the bottom, under the "Custom" lexicon, click on Load, and browse to the WOW24-Zyzzyva-Import.txt you downloaded.
8. Click on "OK" and then Click on "OK" again.
9. Click on the magnifying glass (the search field) and in the drop down, choose "custom"
10. Search for a "AA" (it may take two searches for the dictionary definitions to properly load)
11. You should see the special AA definition showing "WOW24 Unified and a version number at the end"
12. Select Tools->Rebuild Database. Rebuild Database for a Single Lexicon. Choose Custom

Reading a Definition

Basic entries

A straightforward entry looks like this:

RETINA	a membrane of the eye [n. -NAS or -NAE]

Part-of-speech abbreviations

Inflected forms — the < ROOT, prefix

Inflected forms (plurals, past tenses, comparatives, etc.) show their base word:

RETINAS    < RETINA, [n. -NAS or -NAE] · a membrane of the eye

The < RETINA, tells you that RETINAS is an inflection of RETINA. Look up the root word for the full entry.

Multiple parts of speech

Some words function as more than one part of speech. Each additional sense appears after / ----- on the same definition line:

COW    [n. -S or KINE°] · a farm animal
       / ----- [v. -ED, -ING, -S] · to intimidate

This also shows that COW has an irregular plural KINE.

Irregular inflections and the ° marker

When ° follows a word in the inflection list, that form can also take an -S:

AGE    [v. AGED, AGING° or AGEING°, AGES] · to grow old

Both AGINGS and AGEINGS are valid words.

Alternate spellings — the { } block

When a word has valid alternate spellings, they appear in a curly-brace block. Groups within the block are separated by §, which divides different grammatical forms (singular from plural, present from past tense, etc.):

AGING    { ageing aging § ageings agings … }
         / [n. -S] · the process of growing old

EYRIE    { aerie aery eyrie eyry § aeries eyries … }
         / [n. -S] · aerie «a bird's nest built high on a mountain or cliff»

All words listed in a { } block are valid in tournament play.

Cross-references — «...»

When a definition refers to another word by name, that word's definition is shown inline in angle quotes so you don't have to look it up separately:

ACTINIAN    [n. -S] · actinia «a marine animal»

ACTINIAN means the same thing as ACTINIA; the «…» supplies ACTINIA's definition on the spot.

Definition Source Markers

† example — words added to WOW24 that post-date OWL3:

ABANDONWARE    † · software no longer supported or marketed by its creator [n. -S] 

© and ~ together:

ACETABULAR    · © cup-shaped; saucer-shaped; acetabuliform~ [a.] 

The © marks a Webster 1913 definition; the ~ after acetabuliform means that word itself is not valid in tournament play.

Polyorths

A marking of [x] These entries include variant spellings (polyorths) in curly brackets with the parts of speech separated by §.

Word List Coverage

This dictionary is based on WOW24 — the WGPO Official Words 2024 list, the current standard for WGPO tournament Scrabble. It is a separate lexicon from NASPA's NWL2023 (used in North American club and tournament play); the two lists overlap substantially but are not identical.

The Petree definition file was last updated in 2016 (OWL2.1 base). Words added to WOW24 after that date carry † (Wiktionary/AI) definitions.

License

The combined file is released under CC BY-SA 4.0 (Creative Commons Attribution – ShareAlike 4.0 International)

You are free to use, copy, and adapt this file for personal Scrabble study. If you share a modified version, you must use the same license and credit the sources above, including Joseph Petree by name, and notify Joesph Petree of your release.

Non-commercial restriction (WOW24): This work incorporates WOW24 content, which may only be used and shared for non-profit purposes per WGPO terms. This restriction applies alongside the CC BY-SA 4.0 license — you may not sell this file or include it in a commercial product.

Full license text: <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/>

Acknowledgements

• WOW24 lexicon — Word Game Players Organization (https://wordgameplayers.org)
• Petree OWL 2.1 extended dictionary — Joseph Petree
• Wiktionary — Wikimedia Foundation contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://en.wiktionary.org)
• NASPA Zyzzyva — North American Word Game Players Association (NASPA Games) Version 3.4.1 · https://www.scrabbleplayers.org/zyzzyva/ © 2005–2023 North American Word Game Players Association, D/B/A NASPA Games
• Polyorths Variant spellings of Scrabble Dictionary words - Amit Chakrabarti https://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~ac/Scrab/polyorth.html

Scrabble™ is a trademark of Hasbro, Inc. in the US and Canada. No affiliation with Hasbro is intended or implied and this does not constitute an endorsement of any kind.

Copyright © 2026 Mitch Bayersdorfer  ·  Attributions  ·  Released under CC BY-SA 4.0