Scrabble adds 300 new words to board game, includes 'OK'

New words include bizjet and words like arancini, which are Italian balls of cooked rice.

Update: 2018-09-26 03:13 GMT
The US dictionary company sought counsel from the North American Scrabble Players Association when updating the book. (Photo: Pixabay)

Merriam-Webster released the sixth edition of The Official Scrabble Players Dictionary, four years after the last freshening up.

Scrabble has now added 300 new words to its boardgame, including everyday phrases such as 'OK' and 'ew'.

New words include bizjet and words like arancini, which are Italian balls of cooked rice.

Other new acceptable words are aquafaba, beatdown, zomboid, twerk, sheeple, wayback, bokeh, botnet, emoji, facepalm, frowny, hivemind, puggle and nubber.

According to the dictionary, Bizjet, meaning a small plane used for business, would be worth a whopping 120 points on an opening play, but only if it is made into a plural with an 's'.

That is due to the 50-point bonus for using all seven tiles and the double word bonus space usually played at the start.

Speaking about the inclusion of ‘OK’, lexicographer Peter Sokolowski and editor and large at Merriam-Webster said that it is a word Scrabble players have been waiting for a long time.

The US dictionary company sought counsel from the North American Scrabble Players Association when updating the book, Sokolowski said, 'to make sure that they agree these words are desirable'.

Sokolowski’s favorite among the new words turns out to be macaron, the delicate French sandwich cookie featuring different flavors and fillings. 'I just like what it means,' he said.

Merriam-Webster put out the first official Scrabble dictionary in 1976. Before that, the game's rules called for any desk dictionary to be consulted.

Since an official dictionary was created, it has been updated every four to eight years.

Similar News