Q Words Without U
Quick answer: There are 22 valid words with a Q but no U in the ENABLE word list this tool uses. Type your letters into the Word Unscrambler to find the ones your rack can actually play.
The most useful piece of Scrabble knowledge in the game: the short list of words that use Q without needing a U. Learn these and the dreaded 'Q and no U' rack stops being a dead end.
Open the Word Unscrambler →Top-Scoring Plays
Base Scrabble tile scores, before board premiums — the highest-value words with a Q but no U.
faqir, faqirs, qaid, qaids, qanat, qanats, qat, qats, qi, qindar, qindarka, qindars, qintar, qintars, qoph, qophs, qwerty, qwertys, sheqalim, sheqel, tranq, tranqs
All 22 matches in the ENABLE open word list. Use the Word Unscrambler with your exact letters to see which of them you can actually play.
Game Strategy
QI (11 pts) is the single most valuable of these — a two-letter word you can play almost anywhere. QAT, QIS and QOPH are the next essentials.
Going Deeper
Every competitive player memorises this list because the Q turns up more often than a convenient U. They cluster around a few roots: QI/QIS, QAT/QATS, QOPH/QOPHS, QANAT/QANATS, QINDAR/QINDARKA, QINTAR/QINTARS, QAID/QAIDS and FAQIR/FAQIRS. QI alone rescues most stuck racks; the longer ones (FAQIR, QANAT, QINDAR) turn the Q into a bingo-length play. This page lists all of them.
How to Use
- Open the Word Unscrambler
- Type your available letters (use ? or * for blank tiles)
- Apply the starts-with, ends-with, or contains filter to match this pattern
- Results appear grouped by length, sorted by Scrabble score
More High-Value Letter Lists
Frequently Asked Questions
How many Q-without-U words are there?
The Q-without-U set is small enough to memorise in an afternoon, and this page lists every one in the ENABLE word list the tool searches: QI, QAT and QATS, QOPH and QOPHS, QANAT and QANATS, QAID and QAIDS, QINDAR, QINDARS and QINDARKA, QINTAR and QINTARS, FAQIR and FAQIRS, TRANQ and TRANQS, QWERTY and QWERTYS, plus SHEQEL and SHEQALIM. Tournament dictionaries such as Collins add a few more. They cluster around roughly a dozen roots, so learning the roots gets you the plurals for free.
What is the best Q-without-U word?
QI is the best Q-without-U word by a wide margin: two letters, 11 points, and it fits almost anywhere on the board. It is the single most valuable word to know when you draw a Q with no U, because it converts a dead rack into a play without needing setup. QAT and QIS come next for the same reason. On a triple-letter square QI can clear 30 points from two tiles.
Why does English put U after Q at all?
English inherited QU from Latin, where the pair represented a single kw sound, so almost every native Q word carries a U with it. The exceptions on this page are borrowings that skipped that route: QI and QIGONG from Chinese, QAT and FAQIR from Arabic, QANAT from Persian, QINDAR and QINTAR from Albanian. Because they come from outside the Latin line, they keep spellings English otherwise forbids. That is why the U-less list reads like a world tour rather than a pattern.
Are these words valid in Words With Friends too?
Most Q-without-U words are valid in Words With Friends, but the two games use different dictionaries, so a word accepted here may be rejected there and vice versa. QI, QAT and QOPH are safe in both. This page validates against ENABLE, a free open word list, not against the official NASPA or Collins tournament lists, which are copyrighted. Treat the rarer entries as study material rather than guaranteed plays in a rated game.