SH Words: The Sound That Silences Rooms
SH is one of the first sounds most English speakers learn to recognize — it's the universal signal for "be quiet." But as a word opening, SH generates a staggering number of entries. SHADE, SHAKE, SHAME, SHAPE, SHARE, SHARP, SHATTER, SHAVE — and that's just the SHA- subset. The SH digraph represents a single sound (the voiceless postalveolar fricative, for the linguistically curious), and English uses it constantly. Old English spelled this sound as SC (as in SCIP, now SHIP), but the spelling shifted to SH after the Norman Conquest when French scribes took over English writing.
For crossword solvers, SH- words are everywhere, which is both a blessing and a curse. The good news: SH is a natural opening, so your instincts will serve you well. The challenge: with over a thousand options, you need the crossing letters to narrow things down. SHACK, SHAFT, SHALE, SHAM, SHANK — even the four-letter SH words are numerous. Focus on the third letter to cut through the noise. SHA- is the biggest group, followed by SHE-, SHI-, SHO-, and SHU-.
Scrabble tip: SH itself is valid as a two-letter word in both TWL and SOWPODS, scoring 5 points (S=1, H=4). It's the written form of the shushing sound, and it's useful for parallel plays where you need to hook an S onto an existing word while placing H nearby. For more on the H tile's value in combinations, see words starting with Q for high-value pairings. Also check words ending in ER for SHAKER, SHELTER, SHUTTER, and other SH words that end in the common -ER suffix. The words starting with J page covers another consonant that rarely appears in digraphs.
FAQ
Is SH a valid two-letter word in Scrabble?
Yes, SH is valid in both TWL and SOWPODS. It represents the interjection used to request silence. At 5 points (S=1, H=4) it's a solid short play, especially when hooking S onto an existing word on the board creates a parallel H play. For other valuable two-letter words, see words starting with XI where XI scores 9 points.
Why did English change from SC to SH spelling?
After 1066, Norman French scribes found the Old English SC spelling confusing (in French, SC made a different sound). They replaced it with SH, which was closer to French spelling conventions. That's why we write SHIP instead of SCIP, SHALL instead of SCALL, and SHINE instead of SCINE. The change took about 200 years to complete. For more spelling history, explore words starting with C and its own French-influenced sound shifts.
What SH words score highest in Scrabble?
SCHMALTZ and SCHMOOZED can crack 25+ points base, but more realistic high-scorers include SHREWDLY (18 points), SHAMROCK (19 points), and SHRAPNEL (13 points on good placement). The key is combining SH with premium squares while using common tiles. For comparable scoring potential, browse words ending in Q for the highest per-tile value plays.
Two-Letter Words (1)
Three-Letter Words (4)
Four-Letter Words (29)
Five-Letter Words (117)
and 17 more — use the solver above to search
Six-Letter Words (190)
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Seven-Letter Words (267)
and 167 more — use the solver above to search
Eight-Letter Words (327)
and 227 more — use the solver above to search
Nine-Letter Words (289)
and 189 more — use the solver above to search
Ten-Letter Words (158)
and 58 more — use the solver above to search