Is NIQAABS a valid word?

NIQAABS is the plural of NIQAAB, a spelling of NIQAB, a face veil worn by some Muslim women. Seven letters means that playing it from your rack uses every tile, a bingo worth a 50-point bonus in standard rules. Two A tiles, an I, an N, a B and an S around the Q are a realistic rack. If NIQAAB is on the board, the S hook makes NIQAABS as well. Both spellings, with one A or two, come from the same Arabic word, and both plurals are valid. As with other Arabic words, English writers have used more than one spelling over the years.

Before any bonus squares: N 1 + I 1 + Q 10 + A 1 + A 1 + B 3 + S 1 = 18. On a double-word square that's 36, on a triple-word 54, and every letter bonus under one of these tiles is applied first.

Later in the game, put the Q on a 3L square and NIQAABS is worth 38 before any word bonus.

No other word in the list uses exactly the letters N, I, Q, A, A, B and S.

NIQAABS is the plural of NIQAAB, the face veil. Seven tiles, so it can be a bingo.

• Q without U

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.

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.