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8 Letter Words Starting With A

There are 3806 valid 8 letter words that start with A, drawn from NWL2023, CSW24, and Words With Friends. Sorted below by score, with the single highest scorer called out.

Highest Scoring 8-Letter Words

US Scrabble (NWL)

aardvark - 16 points

UK Scrabble (CSW)

aardvark - 16 points

Words With Friends

abapical - 18 points

8 Letter Words (3806)

View all words starting with A

Top 20 Highest-Scoring 8 Letter Words Starting With a

Point values shown for US Scrabble, UK Scrabble, and Words With Friends. The average across this full 3806 word list is 40.0 combined points.

Rank Word US Scrabble UK Scrabble WWF Points Total
🏆 #1 aardvark 16 16 17 49
#2 aardwolf 15 15 16 46
#3 aaronite 8 8 9 25
#4 aasvogel 12 12 15 39
#5 abacisci 14 14 17 45
#6 abaction 12 12 15 39
#7 abactors 12 12 14 38
#8 abaculus 12 12 17 41
#9 abacuses 12 12 15 39
#10 abadengo 12 12 15 39
#11 abaissed 11 11 12 34
#12 abalones 10 10 13 33
#13 abampere 14 14 17 45
#14 abanding 12 12 16 40
#15 abandons 11 11 14 36
#16 abapical 14 14 18 46
#17 abarambo 14 14 17 45
#18 abasedly 14 14 15 43
#19 abashing 14 14 16 44
#20 abastard 11 11 12 34

Where 8 Letter Words Fit on the Board

At 8 letters, a word almost always uses your entire rack plus tiles already on the board these are realistically bingo-adjacent plays rather than everyday moves, which is why the list leans heavily on compound and suffixed forms (-nesses, -ation, -izing). If you're looking for words you can play more often, shorter lengths starting with A will give you far more flexible options try 8 letter words starting with A for a more practical middle ground.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the highest-scoring 8 letter word starting with a?

aardvark — worth 49 combined points (US Scrabble: 16, UK Scrabble: 16, Words With Friends: 17).

How many 8 letter words start with a?

3806 valid words, combining entries from NWL2023, CSW24, and the Words With Friends dictionary.

Are 8 letter words realistic to actually play?

Only occasionally — you'd need most of your rack plus letters already on the board to reach 8 tiles. They're worth knowing for the rare bingo-extension play, but for regular turns, shorter a words will come up far more often.