Don't Say A Word

The word game where finishing a word means losing. Bluff, challenge, and learn something — every round ends with a definition.

Most word games ask you to make words. This one dares you not to.

Players take turns adding a single letter to either end of a growing fragment. C becomes AC becomes ACE — and whoever completes a real word loses the round. The trap is that you have to keep playing toward words without ever finishing one.

Think your opponent is bluffing with letters that can't go anywhere? Challenge them. If they can't name a real word containing the fragment, they lose. If they can, you do.

FOUR LEVELS OF OPPONENT Grade 6, High School, Collegiate, and Doctorate. Difficulty changes what the computer knows, not what counts as a word — every word in the full dictionary is legal for both of you, at every level. Lower levels make genuine mistakes: they finish words without realizing, and challenge when they shouldn't.

PLAY WITH FRIENDS Pass the phone for local matches, or play online through Game Center with turns that can span an hour, a day, or three days. Take your turn on the bus and come back tomorrow. If your friend lets the clock run out, they forfeit the round.

172,823 WORDS Every match is refereed by the complete ENABLE dictionary, so there's no arguing about whether something counts.

EARN YOUR WAY UP Start with three-letter words and unlock longer minimums, harder vocabulary, and twenty animated backgrounds as you win.

Best of five rounds. First to finish a word loses.