Q Without U: Scrabble Words You Can Play Without a U
The complete list of Q words that don't need a U, with meanings, from the same word list Unscramble AU uses.
Every Scrabble player learns early that the letter Q is worth 10 points and is awkward to use, because in English it almost always arrives with a U. The good news is that Collins Scrabble Words, the list used for Australian tournament play, contains a useful set of words where Q stands alone. Knowing them turns the worst tile in the bag into a scoring opportunity.
The word list behind Unscramble AU has 70 valid words that contain a Q but no U, out of 267,751 words in total. That is under 0.03% of the list, so the set is small enough to learn. Most of the 70 entries are just plurals or variants of a few dozen root words.
The short words to learn first
Start with the three-letter and shorter words. They fit into tight spots on a crowded board, and they are the ones you will actually use.
- QI scores 11 points on its own tile values (10 + 1) and is the single most useful Q word. It is the only two-letter Q word.
- QAT is a shrub whose leaves are chewed as a mild stimulant. It is a handy three-letter dump, and it takes an S (QATS).
- QIS is the plural of QI.
Of all the words in this list, 8 are four letters or shorter: QADI, QAID, QAT, QATS, QI, QIS, QOPH, WAQF. QADI, QAID, QOPH and WAQF are the four-letter roots.
Q words with a meaning attached
Words are easier to remember when you know what they mean. Most of these come from Arabic, Persian, Hebrew and other languages, and they have entered English through religion, food, music and travel. The definitions below were checked against published dictionaries.
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| QI | the vital life energy of Chinese medicine and martial arts |
| QAT | a shrub whose leaves are chewed as a mild stimulant |
| QADI | a Muslim judge who applies Islamic law |
| FAQIR | a variant of FAKIR, a Muslim or Hindu ascetic |
| QIBLA | the direction Muslims face when praying, towards Mecca |
| QORMA | a variant spelling of KORMA, a creamy curry |
| NIQAB | a face veil that leaves only the eyes visible |
| QWERTY | the standard keyboard layout, named for its top row of letters |
| QANAT | an underground channel that carries water for irrigation |
| QAWWALI | Sufi devotional music built on rhythmic repetition |
| QIGONG | a Chinese practice combining breathing, meditation and movement |
| TALAQ | Islamic divorce by the husband's pronouncement |
| WAQF | an Islamic charitable endowment of property held in trust |
| QINTAR | an Albanian coin worth one hundredth of a lek |
| QINDAR | an Albanian monetary subunit of the lek (the plural is QINDARKA) |
| QOPH | the nineteenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet |
| QAID | a variant of CAID, a North African Muslim leader or judge |
| MBAQANGA | South African township dance music |
| SHEQEL | a variant of SHEKEL, the Israeli currency |
| INQILAB | revolution (from Urdu) |
| QASIDA | an Arabic or Persian poem of praise, lament or satire |
Every Q-without-U word in our list
For completeness, this is the whole set of 70 words from the Unscramble AU word list, including plurals and variants:
- FAQIR
- FAQIRS
- INQILAB
- INQILABS
- MBAQANGA
- MBAQANGAS
- NIQAB
- NIQABS
- QABALA
- QABALAH
- QABALAHS
- QABALAS
- QABALISM
- QABALISMS
- QABALIST
- QABALISTIC
- QABALISTS
- QADI
- QADIS
- QAID
- QAIDS
- QAIMAQAM
- QAIMAQAMS
- QALAMDAN
- QALAMDANS
- QANAT
- QANATS
- QASIDA
- QASIDAS
- QAT
- QATS
- QAWWAL
- QAWWALI
- QAWWALIS
- QAWWALS
- QI
- QIBLA
- QIBLAS
- QIGONG
- QIGONGS
- QINDAR
- QINDARKA
- QINDARS
- QINTAR
- QINTARS
- QIS
- QOPH
- QOPHS
- QORMA
- QORMAS
- QWERTIES
- QWERTY
- QWERTYS
- SHEQALIM
- SHEQEL
- SHEQELS
- TALAQ
- TALAQS
- TRANQ
- TRANQS
- TSADDIQ
- TSADDIQIM
- TSADDIQS
- TZADDIQ
- TZADDIQIM
- TZADDIQS
- WAQF
- WAQFS
- YAQONA
- YAQONAS
Plurals and inflections (such as QATS and FAQIRS) share the meaning of their root. A few roots, including TRANQ, QABALA, QALAMDAN and TSADDIQ, are valid in the word list but are missing from the dictionaries we checked, so we have not defined them here. We would rather show fewer definitions than guess.
Newer editions of Collins Scrabble Words may contain further Q words that are not yet in this site's word list. Before you challenge or defend a Q play in a tournament, check the current official word list.
How to use these words in a game
1. Hold the Q only if you have a plan
A Q with no U left in the bag and no vowel-friendly board is a liability. If the U tiles are gone (there are four in the set) and QI is available, you can keep the Q and wait for a good spot. If not, exchanging the Q is often better than carrying it for many turns.
2. Look for the I
QI needs an I. Any I already on the board can be a launching pad, and a Q placed on a double or triple letter square earns 20 or 30 points before the I is counted. A parallel play, where Q sits next to another word, can score in two directions.
3. Learn the Q-and-A pairs
Many of the longer words pair Q with A, as in QANAT, QADI, QAID, QASIDA and QABALA. If you hold Q, A and a few consonants, you have more options than you might think.
4. Remember TRANQ and QWERTY
Everyday words are the easiest to forget as Scrabble words. TRANQ (an informal short form of tranquilliser) and QWERTY are both valid, and both come up more often than obscure Arabic words.
Practise with the unscrambler
Try entering a rack such as Q A T I S D E in Unscramble AU and see which words appear. Because the tool only shows words from the Collins-based list, it is a quick way to check whether a Q play is valid before you commit to it.