Because of the way games like Scrabble work, it is common for new words to be built up from other shorter words, like "TRENCHANT" is an extension of "CHANT." Most commonly, an existing word gets extended by just a single letter, like "JAM" is "AM" plus the single letter "J". So it becomes very useful to learn playable words that are one-letter extensions of other playable words.
Some words even represent extensions from both ends, like how "AWED" is both "WED" extended by "A" and "AWE" extended by "D". We call such words "Janus" words because of their "two faces" quality. Janus words are particularly beneficial to memorize since they provide twice the usefulness for the effort.
There are exactly 289 3-letter Janus words playable under OWL2. They are all listed below in order of playrank, meaning the first word in the list is the most often played, the second word is the second most often played, and so on down the list.
1. qis
2. zag
3. joe
4. awe
5. owe
6. ere
7. ado
8. ahi
9. eta
10. aye
11. rex
12. ode
13. zax
14. zas
15. one
16. eme
17. ono
18. dex
19. are
20. ore
21. hex
22. abo
23. aha
24. gox
25. ane
26. oho
27. ago
28. wet
29. aba
30. wen
31. ref
32. uta
33. ope
34. feh
35. xis
36. ana
37. emu
38. fax
39. nae
40. fen
41. woe
42. noh
43. net
44. lox
45. ami
46. kae
47. fer
48. toe
49. lax
50. jow
51. def
52. gor
53. ala
54. yen
55. nor
56. wed
57. joy
58. ret
59. fag
60. tae
61. tit
62. fed
63. tax
64. ama
65. box
66. fab
67. toy
68. nah
69. won
70. pax
71. tin
72. hen
73. god
74. rem
75. naw
76. yeh
77. doe
78. fet
79. aah
80. kid
81. yet
82. fan
83. ait
84. lid
85. lin
86. nut
87. amu
88. tad
89. taw
90. fem
91. bin
92. peh
93. het
94. lit
95. ohm
96. den
97. goy
98. fad
99. red
100. bye
101. wop
102. fat
103. ben
104. nun
105. her
106. aby
107. hit
108. ain
109. hin
110. hae
111. tod
112. nod
113. kif
114. nag
115. dow
116. nay
117. mae
118. hid
119. aal
120. yod
121. kit
122. tag
123. bow
124. sox
125. yar
126. yon
127. tow
128. tor
129. hoe
130. bel
131. pit
132. pet
133. del
134. bet
135. dor
136. nan
137. bop
138. pen
139. bid
140. ton
141. max
142. bit
143. baa
144. oes
145. far
146. bed
147. kat
148. med
149. pin
150. per
151. maw
152. nab
153. now
154. hag
155. law
156. lar
157. tar
158. bah
159. she
160. kin
161. aid
162. paw
163. yom
164. fay
165. tan
166. yag
167. haw
168. bag
169. lag
170. ped
171. mel
172. hod
173. tab
174. tat
175. lad
176. wow
177. low
178. top
179. don
180. kab
181. met
182. heh
183. nom
184. lop
185. bod
186. men
187. yow
188. pad
189. dom
190. mow
191. lay
192. had
193. bad
194. bay
195. lat
196. tis
197. yam
198. fes
199. hon
200. yah
201. par
202. pan
203. mid
204. lab
205. aas
206. bam
207. yaw
208. bal
209. ban
210. ais
211. tom
212. hay
213. pat
214. sin
215. nam
216. yay
217. sit
218. mad
219. hem
220. bar
221. bat
222. sha
223. pay
224. pal
225. mop
226. hat
227. pah
228. hoy
229. wos
230. fas
231. mon
232. boy
233. how
234. mor
235. ash
236. res
237. mun
238. tam
239. mag
240. gos
241. mar
242. lis
243. man
244. soy
245. sow
246. hes
247. sod
248. yes
249. mut
250. nos
251. may
252. mat
253. hah
254. mod
255. pam
256. kay
257. ham
258. son
259. bes
260. nus
261. sop
262. lam
263. hop
264. kis
265. umm
266. mem
267. pis
268. tas
269. kas
270. dos
271. has
272. sis
273. pes
274. las
275. bis
276. his
277. mis
278. hmm
279. bos
280. hos
281. mos
282. som
283. mom
284. sos
285. pas
286. bas
287. mas
288. mus
289. mum
This list is original research from ScrabbleGuru.com. Come visit us for more!