What do the word lists decide?
Each language has one word list per word length. When you submit a guess, Ordsnok checks that the word is in the list for the language and length you chose. A word that is not in the list cannot be used as an attempt.
Random games draw their answer from the same lists. In online random games some unsuitable Norwegian words are kept out as answers, but they are still accepted as guesses.
The daily word and the six Weekend Challenge words are not drawn from the whole word list. They are chosen separately in advance, and your guesses are checked against the same lists.
Which words count?
The Norwegian list is Bokmål and is based on a full-form list. It therefore contains inflected forms, not just the headwords in a dictionary. The English list also has inflected forms, such as “books” and “walked”.
- Inflected forms count: “bilen” (the car) and “bøker” (books) have five letters, and “hesten” (the horse) has six.
- Proper nouns do not count. Names such as “Norge” and “Bergen” are not in the Norwegian list.
- Æ, ø and å are letters in their own right with their own keys, so an “a” does not match an “å”. 1,817 of the 11,347 Norwegian five-letter words, about 16 per cent, contain at least one of them.
- Only Bokmål is supported. Words that exist only in Nynorsk, such as “ikkje”, are not accepted.
Choose five, six or seven letters
Five letters gives you six attempts, six letters gives you seven attempts, and seven letters gives you eight attempts.
The longer the word, the more words there are in the list and the more often a letter repeats. About 40 per cent of Norwegian five-letter words have at least one repeated letter, and the share rises with word length.
Choose a quick round or a longer challenge, and start as many random games as you like.
Where do the words come from?
The Norwegian words are based on Norsk ordbank – bokmål 2005 from the National Library of Norway (Nasjonalbiblioteket), made available by Språkbanken under the CC BY 4.0 licence. Ordsnok has filtered and cleaned the words into five-, six- and seven-letter lists.
The English words are based on ENABLE2K.
Read about Norsk ordbank at SpråkbankenLicence: CC BY 4.0Read about ENABLE2K
Is a word missing?
Send the language, word length and word you tried to support. We can then check whether it should be included.
Do not send passwords, login codes or payment information.
How big are the word lists?
| Language | 5 letters | 6 letters | 7 letters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Norwegian (Bokmål, Norsk ordbank 2005) | 11,347 | 20,792 | 31,930 |
| English (ENABLE2K) | 8,672 | 15,290 | 23,208 |
Frequently asked questions about word lists
How many words does Ordsnok accept?
In English, Ordsnok accepts 8,672 five-letter words, 15,290 six-letter words and 23,208 seven-letter words. In Norwegian, the figures are 11,347, 20,792 and 31,930.
Do inflected forms count?
Yes. The Norwegian list includes inflected forms such as “bilen”, “bøker” and “hesten”, and the English list has forms such as “books” and “walked”.
Does Ordsnok accept proper nouns?
No. Names of people and places, such as “Norge” and “Bergen”, are not in the Norwegian list.
Can I play in Nynorsk?
No. The Norwegian list is Bokmål, so words that exist only in Nynorsk are not accepted.
Do the word lists decide the daily word?
No. The daily word and the Weekend Challenge words are chosen separately. The lists decide which guesses are accepted and which words random games can draw as answers.
Can I play in both Norwegian and English?
Yes. Choose your language in Ordsnok before starting a game.
Can I play in a browser?
Yes. You can play Ordsnok at play.ordsnok.app or in the app.
Where do the Norwegian words come from?
They are based on Norsk ordbank – bokmål 2005 from the National Library of Norway, which Språkbanken makes available under the CC BY 4.0 licence.
What should I do if a word is missing?
Contact support with the language, word length and word you tried.