Anagram Solver — Crossword Anagrams, Missing Letters and Multi-Word
Unscramble an anagram using every letter — with blanks for missing letters, known crossword letters, or as two or three words.
Click any result to copy it. Common words are outlined in green.
Type the letters and get every word that uses all of them exactly once: listen → silent, tinsel, enlist, inlets. Built for crosswords: add a ? for each letter you do not have, and type the known letters from the grid (like _i____) so only answers that fit are shown. The Multi-word tab finds phrase anagrams — dormitory → dirty room — and the Crossword pattern tab fills gaps without any anagram at all.
How to use Anagram Solver
- Type the letters of the anagram. Add a ? for each missing letter.
- For a crossword, put the letters you already have from crossing answers in "Known letters", with _ for the gaps, one character per letter of the answer.
- Click Search. Common words are outlined in green and listed first; click any result to copy it.
- No luck? Try the Multi-word anagrams tab for phrases, or Crossword pattern if you only know some letters.
Solving crossword anagrams
A crossword anagram gives you the letters (the "fodder") and the length; the grid gives you some crossing letters. Enter both: the fodder as Letters and the crossing letters as Known letters. If the fodder has tinsel and the grid shows _i____, only silent and tinsel fit — and if the first square is S, silent is the common word left. When a clue leaves a letter out, or you are not sure of one, add a ? for each unknown letter: cr?ss with known letters __o__ gives cross.
Spotting anagrams in cryptic clues
Cryptic crosswords signal an anagram with an indicator: a word suggesting change, disorder or damage, placed next to the letters to rearrange. Common ones are about, abroad, badly, broken, confused, crazy, damaged, mixed, novel, odd, off, out, poorly, reformed, scrambled, shuffled, sort of, strange, upset, wild. The fodder beside it has exactly as many letters as the answer, which is the quickest check. In "Listen, broken, falls quiet (6)", broken is the indicator, listen the fodder, and the answer is SILENT.
Multi-word anagrams
Some of the best anagrams are phrases: dormitory → dirty room, astronomer → moon starer, the eyes → they see, a gentleman → elegant man. The Multi-word tab finds two-word anagrams from the whole dictionary and three-word ones built from common words, most readable first. Spaces in what you type are ignored, so you can enter a whole phrase. Raise "Shortest word" to 4 to clear out short filler words; lower it to 2 to allow words like "an" and "on".
What counts as an anagram
A true anagram uses every letter exactly once: listen and silent qualify, listen and list do not. If you want every word you can make from some of the letters, as in Scrabble, use the word unscrambler instead.
How it is instant
Every word in the dictionary is stored with its "signature", its letters sorted alphabetically: listen, silent and tinsel all reduce to eilnst. Finding anagrams is then a single indexed lookup instead of a comparison against 359,000 words. Missing letters and known letters need a scan of one word length, which still takes a fraction of a second.
Most words have no anagram
The great majority of English words cannot be rearranged into another word. Words rich in common letters — vowels plus r, s, t, l and n — are the productive ones; the largest group in our dictionary is aelrst, with fifteen words including alters, salter and staler. If a word has no single-word anagram, try adding a ? or switching to Multi-word.
Frequently asked questions
How do I solve an anagram with missing letters?
Type a ? for each letter you do not have. listen? finds seven-letter words that contain l, i, s, t, e and n plus any one other letter. You can use up to three.
How do I use the letters I already have in the crossword grid?
Type them in "Known letters", one character per square, with _ for the empty ones — _i____ for a six-letter answer whose second letter is I. Only anagrams that fit are shown. The pattern must be as long as the answer.
Does it find multi-word anagrams?
Yes — the Multi-word anagrams tab finds two-word anagrams from the full dictionary and three-word anagrams made of common words, for up to 15 letters. dormitory gives dirty room.
Can it solve a cryptic crossword clue?
Not the whole clue, but the anagram part. Find the indicator word (broken, mixed, wild, confused…), take the letters next to it that match the answer length, and enter them here with any crossing letters.
What is the difference between this and the word unscrambler?
An anagram uses every letter exactly once. The word unscrambler finds words using some of your letters, which is what you want for Scrabble and Words With Friends.
Why does my word have no anagrams?
Most words have none. Rearranging letters into another valid word needs a productive mix, usually vowels plus r, s, t, l, n. Try a ? for a missing letter, or the Multi-word tab.
Why do some unusual words appear?
The dictionary has about 359,000 words, including rare, archaic and technical ones, so nothing a setter might use is missed. Common words are outlined in green and always listed first.