Yes. UM is a valid word.
UM is valid in the North American word list used for the Scrabble board game and other crossword tile games.
UM 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 UM
UM is a pause for thought, much like UH. It hooks into UMM, UMP and UMS, and with a letter in front into BUM, GUM, HUM, MUM, RUM, SUM and YUM.
Settle the next one at the table: score your game free in Tileside →
UM scores 4 points
Before any bonus squares: U 1 + M 3 = 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: UM as the first play
Later in the game, put the M on a 3L square and UM is worth 10 before any word bonus.
Hooks: one tile makes a new word
In front of UM (12):
- BUMa person who is deemed to be despicable or contemptible
- CUMthe thick white fluid containing spermatozoa that is ejaculated by the male genital tract
- DUM
- GUMa preparation (usually made of sweetened chicle) for chewing
- HUMsing with closed lips
- LUM
- MUMfailing to speak or communicate etc when expected to
- RUMliquor distilled from fermented molasses
Place that one tile so it also forms a word in the other direction and both words score.
Longer words from UM
Words that start with UM:
- UMBOa slight rounded elevation where the malleus attaches to the eardrum
- UMMA
- UMPH
- UMPSform of UMP: an official at a baseball game
- UMAMI
- UMBELflat-topped or rounded inflorescence characteristic of the family Umbelliferae in which the individual flower stalks arise from about the…
- UMBERan earth pigment
- UMBOSform of UMBO: a slight rounded elevation where the malleus attaches to the eardrum
Change one tile
Swap any one letter of UM and these are still words:
Same letters, other words
These use exactly the letters of UM:
- MUa Greek letter
Add one tile: words from these letters plus one more
UM + A
UM + B
- BUMa person who is deemed to be despicable or contemptible
UM + C
- CUMthe thick white fluid containing spermatozoa that is ejaculated by the male genital tract
UM + E
- EMUany of various systems of units for measuring electricity and magnetism
UM + G
UM + H
- HUMsing with closed lips
UM + L
Memory tip
UM is a pause while you think. Add a P for UMP or an M for UMM.
On these lists
Other two-letter words starting with U
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. Playing the international (Collins) list? Turn on its 20 extra two-letter words in Setup.
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.