Hangman is the pencil-and-paper word game almost everyone played at school, now on your screen. A word is hidden behind blanks; guess it one letter at a time before the drawing is finished.

How to play

Pick a theme at the top: animals, fruits, sports, countries, space and more. The theme is your first clue.
Tap a letter on the keyboard or type it. Every right letter appears in all its places in the word.
Every wrong letter adds a part to the drawing. Six wrong letters and the round is lost.
Guess the whole word to win, then press Next word. Your wins and your best streak are saved in the browser.

Tips

Start with the vowels E, A and O, then the most common consonants: T, N, S, R and L.
Look at the length and the letters you already have. A word like _ _ _ _ I N G almost certainly ends in -ING.
Save rare letters such as J, Q, X and Z for when the word is nearly complete.

Hangman in class

Teachers use Hangman to practise spelling and vocabulary: choose a theme you are studying, put the game on the board and let the class call out letters. The words come from everyday English and there is nothing to install.

More guessing games: Wordle Classic, guess the word games and word games for kids.

Need a hard word to stump a friend? Look through words without vowels, words that start with X and words with Z.