Merriam-Webster is updating their official Scrabble dictionary, adding over 5,000 new words, including contemporary favorites like selfie, hashtag, and bromance. Don't be too tempted by the flashiness of these new words though, because it usually just takes one swapped or added letter to make plays worth loads more points.
OOF – 6 points
Come on. There's a TON of letters you could throw on oof. Coof and poof are both worth 9 points. Hoof and woof will get you up to 10 points.
AIYEE – 8 points
Hold on to that i, play a p and drop payee for 10 points. At least payee is an ACTUAL GOD DAMNED WORD!
MEH – 8 points
Meh is a pretty powerful little 3-letter word, but there's tons of extra letters you could stick on there to make it even stronger. Helm or meth will give you an extra point, but you could always play hemp for 11 points.
VLOG – 8 points
If you've got one of the 12 e tiles available in a standard Scrabble set, use it to play glove for an extra point. A u tile will also get you to 9 points with vulgo.
SELFIE – 9 points
Throw a b on there to make beliefs for 12 points. Or, if you really want to go for the gold, swap that i tile for an x tile to spell out flexes for 16 points. Point is, there's tons of better plays than selfie so don't play selfie.
SOJU – 11 points
Add a k and spell out jouks for 16 points. No k? Add a d instead to spell out judos for 13 points.
SUDOKU – 11 points
Have a z? Use that to make kudzus for 20 points. (Or even just kudzu for 19 points, if you want to hold onto that s.) How about a y? dusky is worth 13 points.
YESSIREE – 11 points
Swap out that y for a z to spell seizers which will save you an e tile and get you 16 points. You could also play reseizes for 17 points.
DUBSTEP – 12 points
Leave the d and the b on the rack, those are handy letters, and you can use them later. Instead, use that z you can't figure out what to do with to play putzes for 17 points.
TEXTER – 13 points
Obviously throwing a u in there to make texture will get you an extra point. You could also get to 14 points with an a, making the word extreat. Of course, if there's a d available, you could always play dexter instead, which is also worth 14 points. The real power move is to use an open p to play pretext, which is worth 16 points.
VODCAST – 13 points
You know what's more fun than a vodcast and worth one extra point? Vodka.
BROMANCE – 14 points
You could play cabezon if you've got that z tile. That one little change will earn you 20 points instead of the measly 14 you'd get for playing a stupid word like bromance.
FRENEMY – 15 points
If you've got a spare r you could always get an extra point by playing ferrymen. You could hold out for 20 points by waiting for a z to open up then play enzyme.
GEOCACHE – 16 points
Hold on to that o, that c, and that other c because geezah is an accepted word (bet you didn't know that!) and it's worth 19 points.
PONZU – 16 points
If you've got a k available, you can play zonk or zouk for 17 points.
BEATBOX – 18 points
Ever hear of a Bombax? Me neither. I guess it's a tree or something? But, if you play bombax instead of beatbox, you get one extra point, and get to hold onto that e tile. e tiles are a precious resource.
MIXTAPE – 18 points
Trade out that m for a y and play epitaxy instead. Bring yourself one point closer to victory.
CHILLAX – 19 points
Chillax is a pretty good play, but if you've got an e and a y, you can play hexylic instead, which will get you 22 points. Also, if there's an open d somewhere or you've got one on your rack, you could play hexadic for 20 points.
SCHMUTZ – 23 points
If there's an open y down on the board, you can lay down zythums instead, which is worth 24 points. It's only one extra point, but sometimes that makes all the difference.
Of course, there are some newly announced words that you can't go wrong with...
HASHTAG – 14 points
You're not going to be able to do much better than hashtag if you can manage to play it. I mean, you could always play hashtags to get that extra point.
MOJITO – 15 points
Try your best, but you're not going to do much better than mojito with those letters, unless there's a really great opening on the board.
YUZU – 16 points
There isn't a single extra letter you can add to yuzu that makes a real, accepted word in Scrabble. So if you can play yuzu, you might as well.
FUNPLEX – 19 points
With those letters available, funplex is about as many points as you can get. If, somehow, there's an open -es you can play it on, all the better, but that's probably never going to happen.
JOYPAD – 19 points
Joypad is a pretty solid play. There are tricks for eking out an extra point or two, like adding that s tile and making it plural, but if you've got the letters to lay down joypad, do it.
JOCKDOM – 23 points
Listen, there aren't many words that let you play a j, k, c, and m tile all in one go, so if you can play jockdom, just go for it. There are no better plays. Make it count though, lay it on a triple word tile, if you can manage.
QUINZHEE – 29 points
You've got an opportunity to play a word with a q, z, and h tile in it. Do you really think you're going to do any better than that?
BUZZKILL – 32 points
Buzzkill is worth a whopping 32 points, and even with some really great openings on the board, you'd be hard pressed to play these letters for more points.