Yes. UNAU is a valid word.
UNAU is valid in the North American word list used for the Scrabble board game and other crossword tile games.
UNAU 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 UNAU
UNAU is a two-toed sloth of Central and South America; its plural is UNAUS, and UNAI is another spelling. Together with AI, the three-toed sloth, the sloths give you some of the best vowel dumps in the list. UNAU uses two U tiles and an A with one N, which is a rare and welcome way to play a pair of U tiles. The two-toed sloth hangs upside down for most of its life, even while it sleeps.
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UNAU scores 4 points
Before any bonus squares: U 1 + N 1 + A 1 + U 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: UNAU as the first play
Later in the game, put the U on a 3L square and UNAU is worth 6 before any word bonus.
Hooks: one tile makes a new word
After UNAU (1):
- UNAUSform of UNAU: a sloth of Central America that has two long claws on each forefoot and three long claws on each hindfoot
Place that one tile so it also forms a word in the other direction and both words score.
Longer words from UNAU
Other forms of UNAU (1):
- UNAUSform of UNAU: a sloth of Central America that has two long claws on each forefoot and three long claws on each hindfoot
Words that start with UNAU:
- UNAUDITED
- UNAUTHENTICfalse or fake
- UNAUTOMATED
- UNAUTHORISEDnot endowed with authority
- UNAUTHORIZEDnot endowed with authority
- UNAUTHENTICITY
- UNAUTHENTICALLY
- UNAUTHENTICATED
Change one tile
Swap any one letter of UNAU and these are still words:
- UNAIsame as UNAU: a two-toed sloth
Same letters, other words
No other word in the list uses exactly the letters U, N, A and U.
Add one tile: words from these letters plus one more
UNAU + S
- UNAUSform of UNAU: a sloth of Central America that has two long claws on each forefoot and three long claws on each hindfoot
Memory tip
UNAU is the two-toed sloth. AI is the three-toed sloth, so the sloths come in short words.
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.