Yes. CIAO is a valid word.
CIAO is valid in the North American word list used for the Scrabble board game and other crossword tile games.
CIAO 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 CIAO
CIAO is the friendly Italian word for hello or goodbye, now common in English. CIAO puts three vowels, I, A and O, behind a single C worth three points. Everyone knows it, and it clears a lot of vowels at once. In Italian the greeting first meant something like “at your service”, a friendly way of saying I am your servant. Italians use it with friends and family, and something more formal with strangers.
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CIAO scores 6 points
Before any bonus squares: C 3 + I 1 + A 1 + O 1 = 6. On a double-word square that's 12, on a triple-word 18, and every letter bonus under one of these tiles is applied first.
Example: CIAO as the first play
Later in the game, put the C on a 3L square and CIAO is worth 12 before any word bonus.
Change one tile
Same letters, other words
No other word in the list uses exactly the letters C, I, A and O.
Add one tile: words from these letters plus one more
CIAO + B
- COBIAlarge dark-striped tropical food and game fish related to remoras
CIAO + H
CIAO + R
- CORIAform of CORIUM: the deep vascular inner layer of the skin
CIAO + T
- COATIomnivorous mammal of Central America and South America
CIAO + Z
- AZOICbefore the appearance of life
Memory tip
CIAO is the Italian hello and goodbye. Three vowels after a C.
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.