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8 Letter Words Starting With HI

There are 183 valid 8 letter words that start with HI, 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)

hickymal - 22 points

UK Scrabble (CSW)

hickymal - 22 points

Words With Friends

hickymal - 23 points

8 Letter Words (183)

View all words starting with HI

Top 20 Highest-Scoring 8 Letter Words Starting With hi

Point values shown for US Scrabble, UK Scrabble, and Words With Friends. The average across this full 183 word list is 48.4 combined points.

Rank Word US Scrabble UK Scrabble WWF Points Total
#1 hiatuses 11 11 11 33
#2 hiawatha 17 17 15 49
#3 hibachis 18 18 18 54
#4 hibernal 13 13 15 41
#5 hibernia 13 13 14 40
#6 hibernic 15 15 17 47
#7 hibiscus 15 15 17 47
#8 hicatees 13 13 13 39
#9 hiccatee 15 15 16 46
#10 hiccough 19 19 21 59
#11 hiccuped 18 18 21 57
#12 hickeyes 20 20 19 59
#13 hicksite 17 17 17 51
#14 hickwall 20 20 22 62
🏆 #15 hickymal 22 22 23 67
#16 hidalgas 13 13 14 40
#17 hidalgos 13 13 14 40
#18 hidation 12 12 12 36
#19 hiddenly 16 16 16 48
#20 hideaway 18 18 16 52

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 HI will give you far more flexible options try 8 letter words starting with HI for a more practical middle ground.

Frequently Asked Questions

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

hickymal — worth 67 combined points (US Scrabble: 22, UK Scrabble: 22, Words With Friends: 23).

How many 8 letter words start with hi?

183 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 hi words will come up far more often.