Hangman words
Hangman Phrases for Adults
Sophisticated vocabulary and phrases for grown-up hangman rounds at book clubs, dinner parties and game nights. Play online or print a sheet.
Read the word list
Adults tend to ignore easy hangman lists within a few minutes, so this one raises the bar without turning crude. It mixes literate vocabulary, borrowed French and Latin expressions, and a handful of well-known figures of speech. The content is entirely family-safe; the difficulty comes from spelling and from phrases players know by ear but have rarely seen written down.
Take surreptitious, perfunctory and ostentatious. Most educated adults can define them, and many will still lose a guess or two on the spelling. Schadenfreude and faux pas bring in foreign letter patterns, and phrases like quid pro quo and carte blanche reward players who can reason from the shape of the blanks. The shorter entries, such as ad hoc and per se, are trickier than they look because a two-letter word has almost nothing to reason from.
54 entries. Our solver needed 1.2 wrong guesses on average: 4 easy, 1 medium and 0 hard. The toughest is paradigm (4 misses), the quickest pernicious (0).
- ephemeral
- ubiquitous Easy · 1
- sycophant
- magnanimous
- surreptitious
- perfunctory
- ineffable
- mellifluous
- obfuscate
- quintessential
- juxtaposition
- paradigm Medium · 4
- anachronism
- equivocate
- pernicious Easy · 0
- lugubrious
- sanguine
- cacophony
- dichotomy
- ostentatious Easy · 0
- recalcitrant
- vicissitude
- labyrinthine
- panache
- schadenfreude
- nonchalant
- sobriquet
- soiree
- pragmatic Easy · 1
- serendipity
- devil's advocate
- elephant in the room
- burning the midnight oil
- carte blanche
- faux pas
- status quo
- pyrrhic victory
- catch twenty two
- tongue in cheek
- double entendre
- ad hoc
- quid pro quo
- per se
- de facto
- bon voyage
- deja vu
- mea culpa
- book club
- dinner party
- red herring
- wild goose chase
- silver lining
- writing on the wall
- devil in the details
Words worth a closer look
- surreptitiousDone in secret. Thirteen letters with repeated r, t and i, and the rr-e-p-t run in the middle is a classic spelling stumbling block.
- schadenfreudeA German word for pleasure taken at another's misfortune, now common in English. Few English letter patterns help, so it lasts long in play.
- quintessentialThe most perfect example of something. The double s and the repeated n and t are common spelling slips.
- faux pasFrench for a social blunder, said in English as foh pah. Short, with the silent s and silent t making it harder to guess than the sound suggests.
- ad hocLatin for for this, meaning created for one purpose. Two short words, almost no repeating letters.
- pyrrhic victoryA win that costs the winner so much it is barely worth it. The double r near the start is the usual spelling slip.
- deja vuFrench for already seen. We write it without accents here so the game can accept it.
How to use this list
Good for a book club evening, an office party or a game night with friends who like words. Run it as two teams: one person draws the blanks on a whiteboard, the other team calls letters, and the team that finishes with the fewest wrong guesses wins the round.
If you want it harder, play without allowing vowel calls in the first turn, or ask the guessing team to define the finished word or phrase before it scores. Use the printed sheet for a quiet pair game over a meal.
Print a Hangman Phrases for Adults worksheet
Eight puzzles on one US Letter page, with a clue, letter blanks, an empty frame to draw in, an alphabet strip to cross off and circles to count misses. Page two is the answer key.
Need another sheet?
Draw eight different words from this list, right here. Same layout, new answer key.
Keep going
- Hangman Words for AdultsHard but real vocabulary for grown-up hangman, from quixotic to onomatopoeia. Play online or print a sheet with an answer key for game night.
- Hardest Hangman WordsThe hardest hangman words in everyday English, ranked by how many wrong guesses a sensible player makes. Play the list online or print it.
- Hangman IdiomsReal English idioms for hangman, from piece of cake to once in a blue moon, with meanings in the notes. Play online or print an answer key.
- Hangman PhrasesCommon everyday phrases for hangman, from good morning to piece of cake. Play online or print a sheet with an answer key for classroom or home.
- Hard Hangman WordsHard hangman words that trip up good players: common four-letter words like walk, huge and zinc, scored by the wrong guesses a solver makes.
- Good Hangman WordsGood hangman words for everyday play: common five to eight letter words that take three to five wrong guesses, so rounds are close without being cruel.