This Is the Hardest Word to Guess in Hangman

Ever wondered about the hardest word to guess in Hangman? Whether you’re passing the time with the letter-guessing classroom game or trying to stump a friend, it’s worth knowing that some words are nearly impossible to figure out before the unfortunate stick figure meets its doom. In other words (ahem), it pays to pick the word that gives your opponent the most difficult odds. Keep reading to find out which word is hardest to guess in Hangman, and prepare to become the champ you’re meant to be.

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How a mathematician found the hardest word in Hangman

In 2010, mathematician Jon McLoone’s daughter asked him: What’s the hardest word to guess in Hangman? Being a professional numbers whiz for the education and research site Wolfram, McLoone decided to find an answer.

He designed a Hangman computer game meant to simulate how real human players might actually guess. Starting with the assumption that the average person would guess common letters like R, S, T and the five vowels more often than rare letters like Q, Z, J and X, McLoone simulated 50 games of Hangman for every word in his 90,000-word dictionary. Nearly 5 million games of Hangman later, McLoone was ready to answer his daughter’s question.

What makes a word hard to guess?

For one, the shorter a word is, generally, the trickier it is to solve. This might seem counterintuitive, but consider the probability: In a four-letter word like ball or poor, there are only three possible letters that will save the stickman from the gallows. Guessers therefore have a 23/26 chance of picking incorrectly with each guess. If the word is composed of rare letters like J, Q and Z, guessing correctly becomes even more difficult.

Such was the case with McLoone’s top 25 list of unguessable words, which was filled with tricky words, such as:

Fizz
Buzz
Jink
Hajj
Quiz

But one word rose to the top, whether the computer was allowed 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 or even 13 guesses.

What is the hardest word in Hangman?

Tatiana Ayazo /Rd.com

According to science, the hardest word to guess in Hangman is: jazz.

Composed of 75% uncommon letters (J and Z) and offering only three chances to pick correctly, jazz is the perfect storm of Hangman trickery. It’s kind of fitting, really. They say jazz, the music, is all about the notes that aren’t played. And in the game of hangman, winning is all about the letters that aren’t picked.

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