11 common words that will boost your Scrabble score
M-A-X-I-M-I-Z-E
Scrabble lovers know that the game's all-too-often elusive prize is the "Bingo," when a player uses all seven tiles at once to make a word. Our friends at Vocabulary.com prepared this list of relatively common seven- and eight-letter words with high point totals. The fact that these words are somewhat familiar should make memorizing them that much easier, and your next game of Scrabble that much more winnable.
(Note: All point totals include the 50-point bonus for using all the tiles.)
1. QUIXOTIC (76 POINTS)
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Quixotic: Not sensible about practical matters; idealistic and unrealistic.
2. MAXIMIZE (78 POINTS)
Maximize: Make as big or large as possible.
3. WHEEZILY (76 POINTS)
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Wheezily: With a husky or whistling sound.
4. EQUALIZE (76 POINTS)
Equalize: Make equal, uniform, corresponding, or matching.
5. CHUTZPAH (77 POINTS)
Chutzpah: (Yiddish) unbelievable gall; insolence; audacity.
6. EXORCISE (76 POINTS)
Exorcise: Expel through adjuration or prayers.
7. WHIZBANG (76 POINTS)
Whizbang: A small high-velocity shell that makes a whizzing sound followed by a bang when it hits; something very conspicuous or effective.
8. JEZEBEL (75 POINTS)
Jezebel: A shameless impudent scheming woman.
9. SQUEEZE (75 POINTS)
Squeeze: Press firmly.
10. JUKEBOX (77 POINTS)
Jukebox: A cabinet containing an automatic record player; records are played by inserting a coin.
11. FLAPJACK (76 POINTS)
Flapjack: A pancake; a flat cake of thin batter fried on both sides on a griddle.
To learn about more words with high Scrabble point totals and to add them to your vocabulary-learning program, see the full list at Vocabulary.com.
Arika Okrent is editor-at-large at TheWeek.com and a frequent contributor to Mental Floss. She is the author of In the Land of Invented Languages, a history of the attempt to build a better language. She holds a doctorate in linguistics and a first-level certification in Klingon. Follow her on Twitter.