Jill Harness
The Hardest Word to Guess in Hangman
by Jill Harness - September 2, 2010 - 8:10 AM

Next time you want to trip someone up in hangman, try using the word “jazz.” Mathematician Jon McLoone used a computer simulation that helped him uncover that “jazz” is the hardest word to guess in the game.

The reason for this is simple: shorter words give the guesser fewer chances to get the right letter, and vowels are the most commonly guessed letters. The least guessed letters are those that are used less frequently in the English language, such as j, z, q, and v. Given that 2/3 of the letters in jazz are on that list, the word ends up being very hard to guess.

Of course, if your opponent is a Flosser, they might be on to you now!

Image courtesy of Great Beyond’s Flickr stream.

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Comments (39)

  1. I’ve always been a fan of CHURCH. U is one of the last vowels usually to be picked, and the C and H both at the front and end really trip people up.

    I used to love hangman as a kid. I’d play it anytime we went out to eat and there was an empty space on the kids menu.

    posted by Greg Tatum on 9-2-2010 at 9:05 am

  2. Another good word is rhythm, it has popular letters, but no common vowels and unusual combinations.

    posted by Suzie on 9-2-2010 at 9:06 am

  3. My favorite for hangman is:
    Be sure to drink your ovaltine.

    Yes, sometimes I do full sentences.

    posted by Kelsey on 9-2-2010 at 9:45 am

  4. Hymn is always another fun one to throw on the board.

    posted by Steven on 9-2-2010 at 9:45 am

  5. Or lynx.

    posted by Abraham on 9-2-2010 at 10:20 am

  6. X-men is always a winner.

    posted by CPete on 9-2-2010 at 10:37 am

  7. I’ve always liked “YACHT”.

    posted by Bryan on 9-2-2010 at 10:40 am

  8. Here’s a great riddle…

    “my head is my tail, my tail is my head and you are in the middle”

    The answer is “church”…I always think of it when I read the word.

    posted by graham on 9-2-2010 at 10:57 am

  9. “Jiffy” might be a good one, as would “synergy”. But even better than “jazz”, I think, would be “zyzzyx” — which is the genus of a specific sand wasp, Zyzzyx chilensis.

    -”BB”-

    posted by Bicycle Bill on 9-2-2010 at 11:18 am

  10. How about syzygy? It’s the astronomical term for when 3 orbital bodies line up (as in during a solar or lunar eclipse)

    posted by Adrian on 9-2-2010 at 12:41 pm

  11. Tryst
    Gingham

    posted by PartiallyDeflected on 9-2-2010 at 1:13 pm

  12. I’ve used xenophobia before.

    posted by Jenn on 9-2-2010 at 1:39 pm

  13. I would think “onyx”; unlike “jazz”; you would need 4 separate guesses to get the letters…

    posted by Jeff B on 9-2-2010 at 2:19 pm

  14. I would LOVE to play hangman with a fellow flosser! sadly, i have yet to meet anyone else who is a addicted to this site!

    posted by Megaroo on 9-2-2010 at 2:47 pm

  15. XEROX was my favorite and not one person ever got it.

    posted by Livonlanai on 9-2-2010 at 2:48 pm

  16. My favorite has always been ‘Way’ three letters, they get the a right off, and it keeps them trying simple words. I have YET to see anyone get that.

    posted by Tom on 9-2-2010 at 3:25 pm

  17. RHYTHM is always a good stumper.

    posted by John S. on 9-2-2010 at 3:26 pm

  18. “Yak,” on the same principle as “way.”

    posted by Hanger_Of_Men on 9-2-2010 at 3:47 pm

  19. I had some sort of Franklin electronic product that dealt in words (can’t remember what it was called anymore). You could play Hangman on it, and you could vary how many wrong guesses it would allow. I discovered I could set the wrong guess count to 15, input the word “ambidextrously,” and thus create a game that was impossible to lose.

    posted by Stefan on 9-2-2010 at 3:49 pm

  20. I sometimes just like being a loser and using the sentence “the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog”

    posted by Stella on 9-2-2010 at 3:53 pm

  21. my friend just used jazz on me in hangman about a week ago!

    posted by lu on 9-2-2010 at 3:54 pm

  22. Sphinx?

    posted by Kate in Italy on 9-2-2010 at 4:03 pm

  23. My boyfriend always stumps kids with “fuzzy”

    posted by Ranger J on 9-2-2010 at 4:32 pm

  24. my personal favorite is quixotic.

    posted by Stacy on 9-2-2010 at 5:19 pm

  25. Nothing new to me, I’ve been using “jazz” for years. Though there are some fantastic suggestions in the comment section.

    posted by Ben on 9-2-2010 at 7:04 pm

  26. coccyx

    posted by RD on 9-2-2010 at 7:38 pm

  27. I always did “I watch QVC” as a kid. It really tripped people up.

    posted by Erika on 9-2-2010 at 7:44 pm

  28. Is there a grammatically correct answer to the puzzle in picture before this story? (Or did I miss something really obvious and am now the only one wracking my brain over this?)

    posted by Leslie on 9-2-2010 at 11:23 pm

  29. Leslie, it’s not gramatically correct, it’s just “You been Rick Rolled”.

    My favourite is always QUIZ or QUIZZES.

    With all of these great suggestions I find it hard to believe that JAZZ is the hardest word to guess!

    posted by Reese on 9-3-2010 at 7:58 am

  30. I’ve found “gorgon” to be a real head-scratcher, too!

    posted by kbr on 9-3-2010 at 8:35 pm

  31. Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia is my all time favorite. It is the fear for long words :)

    posted by Funghi on 9-5-2010 at 4:26 pm

  32. Larynx is good, but sky is better. Sky is tricky because people lose 5 guesses before guessing “and sometimes y.”

    posted by Dani on 9-5-2010 at 9:20 pm

  33. Direct quote from my religion professor (who I took 5 classes with),

    “If you’re going to remember one thing this semester, I want you to remember that the second hardest word to guess in Hangman is phlegm”

    posted by Meg on 9-5-2010 at 9:50 pm

  34. I’ve used the word “wax” with much success.

    posted by Bob Siclari on 9-7-2010 at 7:21 am

  35. “Wax” is my favorite word as well, Bob. Although the opponent will find the “A,” the sequence “_A_” could be any of a zillion words. That’s why some hangman games don’t allow words under four letters in length.

    posted by Sandy Wood on 9-7-2010 at 8:28 am

  36. lol, I attempted to use ‘jazz’ for a Hang-Man word, to trip up my office mates. After three guesses, my friend, Darren, got it. Bummer… :(

    posted by Solid Snake on 11-23-2010 at 3:45 pm

  37. Hey, while I play hangman, my all time favorite is rhythm no one have guessed the word yet!
    :)

    posted by Christine on 7-28-2011 at 12:21 am

  38. I really like using zygote.

    posted by Felicia on 12-2-2011 at 1:33 am

  39. i think myrrh is a cool one because you dont really use it often so no-one thinks of it. plus the two ‘r’s make it look kinda weird :) x

    posted by cara on 12-21-2011 at 1:45 pm

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