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9 Letter Words Starting With HI

There are 186 valid 9 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 9-Letter Words

US Scrabble (NWL)

hibernize - 23 points

UK Scrabble (CSW)

hibernize - 23 points

Words With Friends

hiccupped - 25 points

9 Letter Words (186)

View all words starting with HI

Top 20 Highest-Scoring 9 Letter Words Starting With hi

Point values shown for US Scrabble, UK Scrabble, and Words With Friends. The average across this full 186 word list is 55.5 combined points.

Rank Word US Scrabble UK Scrabble WWF Points Total
#1 hianakoto 16 16 16 48
#2 hibakusha 21 21 21 63
#3 hibbertia 16 16 17 49
#4 hibernate 14 14 15 43
#5 hibernian 14 14 16 44
#6 hibernise 14 14 15 43
🏆 #7 hibernize 23 23 24 70
#8 hiccatees 16 16 17 49
#9 hiccoughs 20 20 22 62
#10 hiccupier 18 18 21 57
#11 hiccuping 19 19 24 62
#12 hiccupped 21 21 25 67
#13 hickified 22 22 22 66
#14 hickories 18 18 18 54
#15 hickwalls 21 21 23 65
#16 hickymals 23 23 24 70
#17 hidalgism 16 16 18 50
#18 hiddenite 14 14 14 42
#19 hideaways 19 19 17 55
#20 hidebound 16 16 18 50

Where 9 Letter Words Fit on the Board

At 9 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 9 letter words starting with HI for a more practical middle ground.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the highest-scoring 9 letter word starting with hi?

hibernize — worth 70 combined points (US Scrabble: 23, UK Scrabble: 23, Words With Friends: 24).

How many 9 letter words start with hi?

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

Are 9 letter words realistic to actually play?

Only occasionally — you'd need most of your rack plus letters already on the board to reach 9 tiles. They're worth knowing for the rare bingo-extension play, but for regular turns, shorter hi words will come up far more often.