What is SOWPODS?

The term SOWPODS was coined to cover the convergence of the two International Scrabble® word sources, OSW and OSPD, as deployed for the 1991 World Scrabble® Championships in London and subsequent World Championships. SOWPODS is an acronym derived from anagramming OSW and OSPD.

OSW itself stands for Official Scrabble® Words , a publication derived solely from the Chambers Dictionary, published in Scotland. OSW is exclusively used in the United Kingdom only.

OSPD stands for Official Scrabble® Players Dictionary , a publication derived primarily from the Merriam-Websters Dictionary, but also including words from four other major college dictionaries. It is published by Merriam-Webster, in the United States. OSPD is exclusively used in North America, Thailand, Israel and Malta.

The following countries are known to be fully SOWPODS:

 

Australia
Bahrain
Ghana
Hong Kong
India
Japan
Kenya
Kuwait
Malaysia
New Zealand
Nigeria
Oman
Pakistan
Philippines
Saudi Arabia
Singapore
South Africa
Trinidad
United Arab Emirates