Australian vs American Spelling in Scrabble
COLOUR or COLOR, CENTRE or CENTER: what the Collins-based word list accepts, with counts from our own data.
Australian English follows British spelling in most respects, which surprises many players who have used American word solvers. Should you play COLOUR or COLOR? CENTRE or CENTER? In Collins Scrabble Words, the list used in Australian tournaments, the answer is often both. This guide shows what the word list accepts and where the differences are worth knowing.
Both spellings play
Every pair below is present in the word list behind Unscramble AU. The final column shows the tile points for each spelling, which is occasionally different.
| Australian / British | American | Tile points |
|---|---|---|
| COLOUR | COLOR | 8 / 7 |
| FAVOURITE | FAVORITE | 15 / 14 |
| HONOUR | HONOR | 9 / 8 |
| CENTRE | CENTER | 8 / 8 |
| THEATRE | THEATER | 10 / 10 |
| LITRE | LITER | 5 / 5 |
| FIBRE | FIBER | 10 / 10 |
| ORGANISE | ORGANIZE | 9 / 18 |
| REALISE | REALIZE | 7 / 16 |
| ANALYSE | ANALYZE | 10 / 19 |
| DEFENCE | DEFENSE | 13 / 11 |
| LICENCE | LICENSE | 11 / 9 |
| TYRE | TIRE | 7 / 4 |
| KERB | CURB | 10 / 8 |
| GREY | GRAY | 8 / 8 |
| PLOUGH | PLOW | 12 / 9 |
| ANAEMIA | ANEMIA | 9 / 8 |
| ALUMINIUM | ALUMINUM | 13 / 12 |
| TRAVELLED | TRAVELED | 13 / 12 |
| MUM | MOM | 7 / 7 |
Because Collins Scrabble Words merges the vocabulary of several English-speaking countries, you do not have to choose one spelling system. You do need to know both, because an opponent may play whichever they prefer.
The patterns, with real counts
-ISE and -IZE
Australian usage overwhelmingly prefers -ISE (organise, realise, recognise). Our word list has 1,101 words ending in -ISE that also have an -IZE twin, such as ORGANISE and ORGANIZE. The same goes for -ISATION and -IZATION, with 496 such pairs (for example ORGANISATION and ORGANIZATION).
Not every -ISE word has a twin. Words such as EXERCISE and DEMISE end in -ISE for other reasons, and neither has an -IZE version.
-YSE and -YZE
Verbs such as ANALYSE and PARALYSE have -YZE twins as well. The word list contains 17 of these pairs: ANALYSE, ATMOLYSE, AUTOCATALYSE, AUTOLYSE, BREATHALYSE, CATALYSE, DIALYSE, ELECTROLYSE, HEMOLYSE, HYDROLYSE, OVERANALYSE, PARALYSE, PHOTOLYSE, PLASMOLYSE, PSYCHOANALYSE, PYROLYSE, REANALYSE.
-OUR and -OR
Words ending in -OUR (colour, favour, honour, labour) also have -OR forms in the list, with 63 pairs of six letters or more.
-RE and -ER
CENTRE, THEATRE, LITRE and FIBRE are the standard Australian spellings, and CENTER, THEATER, LITER and FIBER are accepted as well.
-CE and -SE
Australian English uses -CE for nouns (LICENCE, DEFENCE) and -SE for verbs (LICENSE). Both LICENCE and LICENSE are valid words in the list, and DEFENCE and DEFENSE are both valid.
Where spellings differ, count the points
The two spellings do not always score the same, and the biggest gap comes from the letter Z. Because Z is worth 10 points, the -IZE spelling is often worth far more than the -ISE spelling: ORGANISE is worth 9 points and ORGANIZE is worth 18; REALISE is worth 7 and REALIZE 16. Other pairs differ by a point or two (COLOUR 8, COLOR 7) or not at all (CENTRE and CENTER are both 8). If you hold a Z and the board allows it, playing the American spelling can be the better score.
Spell the Australian way in real life, but at the Scrabble board play whichever variant fits and scores best. Both are valid in Collins Scrabble Words.
Why this matters for word solvers
Some word tools use American dictionaries. A tool based only on a US list will not always recognise every Commonwealth word, and it can miss useful plays that are perfectly legal in Australian Scrabble. See our comparison of Collins and NWL for the differences in more detail.