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Hangman

Guess the word one letter at a time before the drawing is finished. Pick a difficulty, use the clue, and type or tap your letters.

Category
Guesses left 8 Misses — Time 0:00

How to play

The blanks show how many letters the word has, and the clue above the board tells you its category. Guess a letter by typing it or tapping it. If it's in the word, every copy of it appears. If it isn't, another part of the drawing goes up. Find all the letters before the drawing is finished and you win.

Easy gives you 10 wrong guesses and builds the whole gallows as you go. Medium gives you 8, and Hard gives you 6 with the gallows already standing. Hints reveal the letter that fills the most blanks: three per word on Easy, one on Medium, none on Hard. Press Enter for the next word.

Where to start

New to the site? The daily puzzle is the same word for everyone, with a streak to keep. Playing with someone else? Set a word and send the link. Teaching a class? The snowman game puts a big board on your screen with two teams and no gallows.

Every word on Hangman Lab has been played by our solver, which counts the wrong guesses a careful player would make. That score is shown next to every word on every list, so when a list says hard, it is. The result most people don't expect: short words like jet and vow are harder than long ones, because so many words fit a short pattern. The strategy guide shows the letters to guess first for each word length.

Popular word lists

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For teachers

There are spelling lists for kindergarten to 8th grade, each built on one spelling pattern and checked by pronunciation, and Dolch and high-frequency sight words. Every list has a printable worksheet with an answer key, or make your own with the printable hangman maker.