Three-letter words are the foundation of English — try saying a sentence or two without using and, the, you, or any other common three-letter word. Whether you’re playing word games like Scrabble or looking for the perfect one-syllable word, we’ve listed more options than you’ll know what to do with.
Common 3-Letter Words
We’ve already used over a dozen three-letter words and haven’t even gotten to our lists yet! These three-letter words are the ones you use and hear every day. We’ve separated them by parts of speech to help you find exactly what you need.
3-Letter Adjectives, Adverbs and Articles
From adjectives that describe to adverbs that modify, there’s no shortage of three-letter words in these categories.
ago | all | any |
bad | big | few |
hot | how | mad |
new | now | old |
one | red | sad |
six | ten | two |
3-Letter Articles, Conjunctions Interjections, and Prepositions
All of these types of words help connect sentences and thoughts.
aha | and |
bah | but |
for | nor |
off | qua |
the | yet |
3-Letter Nouns
Nouns are people, places, things, or ideas.
air | ant | bed |
boy | can | car |
cat | dad | day |
dew | dog | elf |
elk | gym | ink |
jet | key | log |
man | mom | one |
pal | rug | saw |
son | sun | urn |
vet | way | yap |
zag | zen | zoo |
3- Letter Pronouns
Pronouns are words that replace nouns in a sentence.
her | him |
his | our |
she | you |
3-Letter Verbs
Verbs express an action or occurrence.
ace | add | act |
aid | ail | are |
ask | ate | bar |
dig | eat | get |
has | let | met |
nap | out | put |
run | sat | say |
see | tan | use |
was | wed | zap |
Cool and Unusual 3-Letter Words
While three-letter words are common, there are a few you may not have heard of in everyday conversation.
ado | aji |
alb | asp |
bur | cay |
cis | qua |
zee | zed |
Great 3-Letter Words for Scrabble Games
If all you really want to do is win your next Scrabble game, use these three-letter words that include high-value letters like “w,” “x” and “z.”
fax (13 points) | fix (13 points) | adz (13 points) |
fez (15 points) | hex (13 points) | jay (13 points) |
jow (13 points) | kex (14 points) | pyx (15 points) |
vex (13 points) | wax (13 points) | zek (16 points) |
zax (19 points) | zuz (21 points) | zzz (30 points) |
3 Letters FTW
Even words as short as three letters long can make you sound smart. Boost your vocabulary and your word game wins with even more word lists.