Word games need word lists. And word game players need to know what words to use in the games.
It is not possible to offer an appropriately challenging and entertaining word game unless the word list used by the game is comprehensive and reliable. Unfortunately, modern languages use huge vocabularies that are constantly changing, so it is impossible for any single individual or even a small group of “experts” to maintain a comprehensive, current vocabulary list for any given language. This has been a problem for compilers of dictionaries for millennia, and it is the bane of the word game developer.
The EnergyDams WordWiki Project aims to produce and maintain a comprehensive, current list of American English words for use in entertainment.
Public domain word lists currently available on the web are noble efforts, but suffer from limitations imposed by methodology. For example, a word list drawn from public domain books will inevitably include non-standard spellings, foreign words, imaginary words, and other inappropriate vocabulary introduced by the creative process of the authors. In addition, it will also lack contemporary vocabulary.
Similarly, a list compiled, revised, and maintained by a single individual will inevitably be limited by the experience and knowledge of that individual.
By crowdsourcing our word list EnergyDams hopes to circumvent these problems and produce and maintain a reliable word list for game development.
To provide a reliable set of words, the lists curators must operate under an agreed set of guidelines. The EnergyDams WordWiki consists solely of American English words and spellings. British spellings and spellings used in text messaging, for example, are not included. We do not include proper nouns, contractions, or abbreviations, unless they have become standard words. Thus, scuba, pro, and google are included but HIV, Dr., and Yahoo! are not. While some compilers of lists ban contractions and hyphenated words entirely, we have simply set up separate lists for them. Our approach is primarily descriptive, but we also take some prescriptive stances, especially on spelling. For more details, please see the EnergyDams WordWiki User’s Guide.
Everyone who works on the EnergyDams WordWiki is a volunteer. We hope to build a vibrant and entertaining community around the WordWiki. People who are passionate about words and word games are welcome to participate.
If you are interested in joining the community to help maintain the EnergyDams WordWiki, simply complete the form on the Registration page.
By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use.