Yes. JIAO is a valid word.
JIAO is valid in the North American word list used for the Scrabble board game and other crossword tile games.
JIAO 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 JIAO
JIAO is a monetary unit of China, one tenth of a yuan. It is a lovely play for a rack with the J and vowels: the 8-point J goes down with an I, an A and an O. The Chinese money words in the list include YUAN, JIAO and FEN. Ten jiao make one yuan, and ten fen make one jiao, so the three words climb like coins in a purse. Coins and small notes of one jiao are still used in China, though prices are usually given in yuan.
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JIAO scores 11 points
Before any bonus squares: J 8 + I 1 + A 1 + O 1 = 11. On a double-word square that's 22, on a triple-word 33, and every letter bonus under one of these tiles is applied first.
Example: JIAO as the first play
Later in the game, put the J on a 3L square and JIAO is worth 27 before any word bonus.
Hooks: one tile makes a new word
After JIAO (1):
- JIAOSform of JIAO: 10 jiao equal 1 yuan in China
Place that one tile so it also forms a word in the other direction and both words score.
Longer words from JIAO
Other forms of JIAO (1):
- JIAOSform of JIAO: 10 jiao equal 1 yuan in China
Change one tile
Swap any one letter of JIAO and these are still words:
- CIAOused as an expression of greeting and farewell
Same letters, other words
Memory tip
JIAO is a unit of Chinese money, one tenth of a yuan. The J plus three vowels.
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.