# List of English words containing Q not followed by U English words containing Q not followed by U are the exceptions to the usual English spelling rule that the letter Q appears only in the digraph , as in *queen* and *quick*. The set consists almost entirely of loanwords, transliterations, and a few coined or abbreviated forms, and it is a standing category in dictionaries and in word-game lexicons.[1](https://scrabble.m-w.com/wordplay/q-without-u-words) • [2](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Category%3AEnglish_words_containing_Q_not_followed_by_U) | Key fact | Detail | |---|---| | What counts | Words in which the letter Q is not immediately followed by U; a word like *burqa* qualifies even though it contains a U elsewhere[3](https://letterhelix.com/blog/words-with-q-no-u) | | Why it is rare | The spelling for the \kw\ sound comes from Latin; Old English wrote the sound as , and Norman French spelling replaced it by the end of the 13th century[1](https://scrabble.m-w.com/wordplay/q-without-u-words) | | Where exceptions come from | Transliterations from Semitic languages such as Arabic and Hebrew, where Q stands for a uvular "guttural k"[4](https://www.encyclopedia.com/literature-and-arts/language-linguistics-and-literary-terms/language-and-linguistics/q) • [5](https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/12326/why-is-the-letter-q-almost-always-followed-by-the-letter-u) | | Scale in one dictionary | Of 2,525 words containing Q in the open ENABLE list, 2,496 contain the pair QU and only 21 have a Q with no U at all[6](https://letterpile.app/guides/words-with-q-without-u) | | Scrabble in North America | The Tournament Word List accepts qi, qat, qaid, qadi, qoph, qanat, tranq, faqir, sheqel, qabala, qabalah, qindar, qintar, qindarka, mbaqanga, qwerty, and their plurals[7](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix%3AEnglish_words_containing_Q_not_followed_by_U) | | Broader inventories | Wiktionary's category of English words containing Q not followed by U holds 1,275 pages, including proper names and inflected forms[2](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Category%3AEnglish_words_containing_Q_not_followed_by_U) | | Pronunciation | In English, Q without U has the same value as K, or as C before a, o, u[4](https://www.encyclopedia.com/literature-and-arts/language-linguistics-and-literary-terms/language-and-linguistics/q) | ## Why Q is usually followed by U The pairing is a Latin inheritance. In Latin, the sequence \kw\ was common, and it became customary to write it as QV while writing every other instance of the \k\ sound as C; the letter K largely dropped out of use. When the letter V was later differentiated into U and V, the accepted spelling of \kw\ became QU.[5](https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/12326/why-is-the-letter-q-almost-always-followed-by-the-letter-u) In the [Romance languages](https://www.edgepedia.org/romance-languages) that descend from Latin, the combination is retained, though in some of them, especially French, it may represent just the \k\ sound, as in *quiche*.[1](https://scrabble.m-w.com/wordplay/q-without-u-words) English did not originally use Q at all. In the earliest written forms of English the \kw\ sound was regularly spelled , as in *cwēn* for a woman monarch and *cwic*, the ancestor of *quick*. Under the influence of Norman French spelling after the Conquest in 1066, was gradually replaced by , a change essentially complete by the end of the 13th century; *queen*, *quick*, and *quake* (from [Old English](https://www.edgepedia.org/old-english) *cwacian*) all trace this path.[1](https://scrabble.m-w.com/wordplay/q-without-u-words) As C came to represent more and more of these sound combinations, Q became primarily dependent on U to express any sound at all.[8](https://www.dictionary.com/articles/q) ## Where the exceptions come from Q without U marks sounds that Latin-script English had no letter for. The Phoenicians had two symbols for k because [Semitic languages](https://www.edgepedia.org/semitic-languages) such as Hebrew and Arabic distinguish two k-like sounds, only one of which exists in English. When transliterating these scripts, K is usually used for \k\, and Q for another sound such as \q\, a uvular, guttural k.[5](https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/12326/why-is-the-letter-q-almost-always-followed-by-the-letter-u) The practice appears in loanwords such as *Qur'an* and *Iraq*, examples of Q's guttural /k/ sound.[8](https://www.dictionary.com/articles/q) The Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language records that Q without U serves as a transliteration of the Hebrew letter quph and the Arabic qaf, both uvular plosives given the value /k/ in everyday English, in words such as *Iraq*, *qaf*, *Qatar*, and *Qur'ān*.[4](https://www.encyclopedia.com/literature-and-arts/language-linguistics-and-literary-terms/language-and-linguistics/q) A second source is the Pinyin romanization of Chinese, in which Q represents a sound similar to the English "ch" in *cheese*, as in *Qian-long* and *Qin-huang-dao*.[4](https://www.encyclopedia.com/literature-and-arts/language-linguistics-and-literary-terms/language-and-linguistics/q) Merriam-Webster's Q-without-U word list includes *qigong*, the Chinese system of breathing and movement exercises, alongside words such as *qadi* and *qanat*.[1](https://scrabble.m-w.com/wordplay/q-without-u-words) A handful of English coinages and abbreviations complete the set: *QWERTY*, named after the top row of a keyboard, is one of the few English words of this kind without a foreign origin.[8](https://www.dictionary.com/articles/q) ## The words themselves The commonest and shortest examples are the two- and three-letter words that carry most of the practical value in word games. *Qi*, a variant spelling of *chi*, denotes the vital energy held to animate the body in some Eastern systems of medicine and exercise such as acupuncture and tai chi.[9](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/qi) *Qat* (also spelled khat) is a shrub whose leaves are chewed as a stimulant, and *qanat* is an underground channel that carries water in dry regions.[6](https://letterpile.app/guides/words-with-q-without-u) *Qadi* (variant *qazi*) is a Muslim judge who interprets and administers the religious law of Islam,[10](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/qadi) and *qibla* is the direction of the Kaaba shrine in [Mecca](https://www.edgepedia.org/mecca) toward which Muslims turn in ritual prayer.[11](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/qibla) *Qoph* is the nineteenth letter of the [Hebrew alphabet](https://www.edgepedia.org/hebrew-alphabet).[12](https://wordton.com/q-without-u-words/) In one count of the ENABLE word list, the 21 words containing Q but no U at all range from 3 to 8 letters, with *qindarka* (an Albanian monetary unit) the longest at 8; other members include *faqir*, *qaid*, *sheqel*, *tranq*, and *qwerty*, most of them borrowings from Arabic, Hebrew, and other languages written in a different alphabet.[6](https://letterpile.app/guides/words-with-q-without-u) • [12](https://wordton.com/q-without-u-words/) A further group keeps a U in the word but not immediately after the Q: *burqa*, *suq*, *qiviut*, *qulliq*, *umiaq*, *qamutik*, and *buqsha*, with their plurals. In one broad solver dictionary of 2,820 words containing a Q, words of this Q-not-immediately-followed-by-U kind make up 2.3 percent.[3](https://letterhelix.com/blog/words-with-q-no-u) ## In word games Scrabble made this word class famous: a player who must play a Q tile without a matching U needs exactly these words. The English Scrabble bag contains one Q tile and four U tiles, so the mismatch is a recurring practical problem.[13](https://wordsohard.com/guides/q-without-u-scrabble) The Collins Scrabble word list highlights *faqir*, *fiqh*, *inqilab*, *mbaqanga*, and *niqab* among its useful Q-without-U plays.[14](https://scrabble.collinsdictionary.com/blog/using-q-without-a-u/) How many such words exist depends entirely on the dictionary. In North American tournament play, the acceptable set is the sixteen base words listed above plus their plurals.[7](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix%3AEnglish_words_containing_Q_not_followed_by_U) Counts for other lexicons diverge: 33 valid Q-without-U words in SOWPODS, the list used in international and UK tournament play;[15](https://solveaword.com/blog/words-with-q-without-u.html) 48 English words with a Q not followed by U in one TWL-based list;[16](https://www.unscramblerer.com/q-words-not-followed-by-u/) and exactly 101 words with q without U according to the 2015 Collins dictionary (CSW15).[17](https://upcommons.upc.edu/bitstreams/1339ae43-3d65-4015-8e11-3689e5572b23/download) Current editions of both major lists, NWL2023 and CSW24, share the core plays QI, QAT, QADI, QAID, QOPH, TRANQ, FAQIR, and SUQ.[18](https://scrabble-checker.com/q-words-without-u) New additions continue: the 2018 sixth edition of the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary added *qapik*, a monetary subunit of the [Azerbaijan](https://www.edgepedia.org/azerbaijan) manat.[19](https://time.com/5404583/new-words-added-to-scrabble-dictionary/) The spellings have even drawn spelling reformers' attention. [Benjamin Franklin](https://www.edgepedia.org/benjamin-franklin)'s 1768 "Scheme for a New Alphabet and Reformed Mode of Spelling" proposed removing six letters from the alphabet, C, J, Q, W, X, and Y, and respelling English words phonetically.[20](https://qa.time.com/7277659/english-spelling-mess-essay/) ## References 1. [A Player's Guide to 'Q' without 'U' Words, Merriam-Webster](https://scrabble.m-w.com/wordplay/q-without-u-words) 2. [Category:English words containing Q not followed by U, Wiktionary](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Category%3AEnglish_words_containing_Q_not_followed_by_U) 3. [Words With Q and No U, Checked Against Four Word Lists, LetterHelix](https://letterhelix.com/blog/words-with-q-no-u) 4. [Q, from the Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language, Encyclopedia.com](https://www.encyclopedia.com/literature-and-arts/language-linguistics-and-literary-terms/language-and-linguistics/q) 5. [Why is the letter 'Q' almost always followed by the letter 'U'?, English Language & Usage Stack Exchange](https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/12326/why-is-the-letter-q-almost-always-followed-by-the-letter-u) 6. [Words With Q and No U: The Full List, Letterpile](https://letterpile.app/guides/words-with-q-without-u) 7. [Appendix:English words containing Q not followed by U, Wiktionary](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix%3AEnglish_words_containing_Q_not_followed_by_U) 8. [Why Does The Letter Q Almost Always Need The Letter U?, Dictionary.com](https://www.dictionary.com/articles/q) 9. [QI Definition & Meaning, Merriam-Webster](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/qi) 10. [QADI Definition & Meaning, Merriam-Webster](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/qadi) 11. [QIBLA Definition & Meaning, Merriam-Webster](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/qibla) 12. [Q Words Without U: All 21 Words, Longest First, Wordton](https://wordton.com/q-without-u-words/) 13. [Q Without U: The 85 SOWPODS Words That Save You When You're Stuck, WordSoHard](https://wordsohard.com/guides/q-without-u-scrabble) 14. [Using Q without a U, Collins Dictionary Scrabble blog](https://scrabble.collinsdictionary.com/blog/using-q-without-a-u/) 15. [Words with Q but no U: the complete Scrabble list, Solve A Word](https://solveaword.com/blog/words-with-q-without-u.html) 16. [Q words without U (48 Scrabble words with Q and no U), Unscramblerer](https://www.unscramblerer.com/q-words-not-followed-by-u/) 17. [A novel computer Scrabble engine, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya](https://upcommons.upc.edu/bitstreams/1339ae43-3d65-4015-8e11-3689e5572b23/download) 18. [Scrabble Q Words Without U – Complete List, Scrabble-Checker](https://scrabble-checker.com/q-words-without-u) 19. [Scrabble Added 300 Long-Awaited New Words to Its Official Dictionary, Time](https://time.com/5404583/new-words-added-to-scrabble-dictionary/) 20. [English Spelling Is a Mess. When is Enough...Enuf?, Time](https://qa.time.com/7277659/english-spelling-mess-essay/) --- *Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Languages and linguistics › Linguistics › Language change, history, and social variation › Language contact and borrowing* *Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026* *Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.* License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license