Yes. ANOA is a valid word.
ANOA is valid in the North American word list used for the Scrabble board game and other crossword tile games.
ANOA is in the NASPA Word List 2023 (NWL2023), the North American list that Tileside uses for challenges and the one used in club and tournament play.
About ANOA
ANOA is a small wild buffalo, about the size of a deer, found only on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi; its plural is ANOAS. It is a classic word-game word because it clears two A tiles and an O with one N. Picture a little buffalo with straight horns: A-NO-A, the buffalo that says no.
Settle the next one at the table: score your game free in Tileside →
ANOA scores 4 points
Before any bonus squares: A 1 + N 1 + O 1 + A 1 = 4. On a double-word square that's 8, on a triple-word 12, and every letter bonus under one of these tiles is applied first.
Example: ANOA as the first play
Later in the game, put the A on a 3L square and ANOA is worth 6 before any word bonus.
Hooks: one tile makes a new word
After ANOA (1):
- ANOASform of ANOA: small buffalo of the Celebes having small straight horns
Place that one tile so it also forms a word in the other direction and both words score.
Longer words from ANOA
Other forms of ANOA (1):
- ANOASform of ANOA: small buffalo of the Celebes having small straight horns
Change one tile
Same letters, other words
No other word in the list uses exactly the letters A, N, O and A.
Add one tile: words from these letters plus one more
ANOA + S
- ANOASform of ANOA: small buffalo of the Celebes having small straight horns
Memory tip
ANOA is a small wild buffalo from the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.
On these lists
Check words at the table, free
Tileside keeps score, checks words like this one during a challenge, tracks the tiles left in the bag and times turns. It runs in your phone's browser with no account and works offline.
Tileside checks words against the North American list, the NASPA Word List 2023. Your group's chosen dictionary always wins.
Word list: NASPA Word List 2023, used under license. NASPA Word List 2023 Edition © NASPA 2023. The copy included in this app is licensed for personal use. You may not use it for any commercial purposes.
Works with the Scrabble board game, played at the table. Tileside is an independent product, not affiliated with or endorsed by the makers of Scrabble.