Editing Scrabble (section)

===Acceptable words===
{{Category see also|Scrabble lexica}}
All words of length 2 to 15 letters that appear in the agreed-upon [[dictionary]] or lexicon are acceptable words in ''Scrabble'', as are all their [[inflection|inflected]] forms and plurals. Words that contain apostrophes, are hyphenated or capitalized (such as [[proper noun]]s) are generally not allowed unless they also appear as acceptable entries; for example, words such as [[wikt:heres|HERES]], [[wikt:jack|JACK]] and [[wikt:texas|TEXAS]], while typically containing an apostrophe or considered a proper noun, have unrelated meanings and are therefore acceptable in major Scrabble lexicons. Acronyms and abbreviations are generally not allowed unless they have separate entries (such as [[AWOL]], [[RADAR]], [[Scuba diving|SCUBA]], and [[WYSIWYG]]<ref>{{cite web |title=WYSIWYG SCRABBLE Word Finder |url=https://scrabble.merriam.com/finder/wysiwyg |website=SCRABBLE Word Finder |access-date=14 November 2023}}</ref>). Variant spellings, slang or offensive terms, archaic or obsolete terms, and specialized jargon words are acceptable if they meet all other criteria for acceptability, but archaic spellings (e.g., NEEDE or MAKETH) are generally not acceptable words. Foreign words are generally not allowed in English-language ''Scrabble'' unless they have been incorporated into the English language, such as the words [[Qi|QI]],<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kwan |first1=Michael |title=The Power of Qi: A Scrabble Word That'll Center Your Game |url=https://wordfinder.yourdictionary.com/blog/the-power-of-qi-a-scrabble-word-thatll-center-your-game/ |website=Word Finder by Your Dictionary |date=April 27, 2021 |access-date=14 November 2023}}</ref> KILIM, and PATISSERIE.

Vulgar and offensive words are generally excluded from the ''[[Official Scrabble Players Dictionary]]'' but allowed in club and tournament play. The [[North American Scrabble Players Association]] removed slurs from its lexicon in 2020, after conducting a poll of its members.<ref>{{cite news |title=Scrabble branded 'woke' as long list of words BANNED over 'social unrest' |url=https://7news.com.au/entertainment/games/scrabble-bans-long-list-of-words-players-are-no-longer-allowed-to-use--c-2593627 |work=7NEWS |date=14 April 2021 |language=en}}</ref> Mattel removed 400 derogatory terms from its official word list in 2021, in response to the [[Black Lives Matter]] movement, with the company's head of games saying: "Can you imagine any other game where you can score points and win by using a racial epithet? It’s long overdue."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Malvern |first1=Jack |title=War of words over Scrabble slurs |url=https://www.thetimes.com/world/ireland-world/article/war-of-words-scrabble-slurs-m2r7jb3ws |date=23 May 2023 |language=en}}</ref> This does not exclude players from playing these words, as it is within the rules of the game to play unacceptable words (at the risk of losing a challenge).

There are two popular competition word lists for English-language Scrabble:
* [[NASPA Word List]] (NWL, also known as OTCWL, OWL, or TWL)
* [[Collins Scrabble Words]] (CSW, also called "Collins" or "SOWPODS")
The first predominates in the U.S., Canada, and Thailand, and the second in English Scrabble in the rest of the world. There is also a large community of competitive Collins players in North America, with its own NASPA rating system.

====NWL and OSPD====
Today's [[NASPA Word List]] (NWL), published by [[NASPA Games]], descends from the ''Official Tournament and Club Word List'' (a non-bowdlerized version of the ''Official Scrabble Players Dictionary'') and its companion ''Long Words List'' for longer words. The current version of NWL is NWL2023,<ref>{{cite web |title=NWL2023 - NASPAWiki |url=https://scrabbleplayers.org/w/NWL2023 |access-date=26 July 2024}}</ref> effective February 2024, and the ''[[Official Scrabble Players Dictionary]]'', published by [[Merriam-Webster]], is currently in its seventh edition of 2022. NWL includes all current OSPD words, plus several hundred [[Profanity|offensive words]] and [[Generic trademark|genericized trademarks]] such as KLEENEX; as of 2020, it no longer includes words judged to be personally applicable offensive slurs.

The NWL and OSPD are compiled using a number of major college-level dictionaries, principally those published by Merriam-Webster. If a word appears, at least historically, in any one of the dictionaries, it is included in the NWL and the OSPD. If the word has only an offensive meaning, it is included only in the NWL. The key difference between the OSPD and the NWL is that the OSPD is marketed for "home and school" use, without words which their source dictionaries judged offensive, rendering the ''Official Scrabble Players Dictionary'' less fit for official ''Scrabble'' play. The OSPD is available in bookstores, while the NWL is available only through [[North American Scrabble Players Association|NASPA]].

====''Collins Scrabble Words''====
In all other English-speaking countries, the competition word list is ''Collins Scrabble Words'' 2021 edition, known as CSW21 (Versions of this lexicon before 2007 were known as [[SOWPODS]]). Historically, this list has contained all OTCWL words plus words sourced from the [[Chambers Dictionary|Chambers]] and [[Collins English Dictionary|Collins English]] dictionaries, but recent editorial decisions have caused greater discrepancies between CSW and NWL. CSW is commonly used to adjudicate major tournaments outside North America.

Tournaments are also played using CSW in North America, particularly since Hasbro ceased to control tournament play in 2009. [[North American Scrabble Players Association|NASPA]], the [https://wordgameplayers.org/ Word Game Players Organization], and [https://www.cocoscrabble.org/ Collins Coalition] (CoCo) all sanction CSW tournaments, using separate [[Elo rating system|Elo]] rating systems.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://scrabbleplayers.org/w/SOWPODS|title=SOWPODS - NASPAWiki|publisher=North American Scrabble Players Association}}</ref>