Random Word and Definition Generator for the Dictionary Game

Random Word and Definition Generator for the Dictionary Game: how it works

This random word and definition generator deals one rare but real English word at a time, with its part of speech and how to say it, and keeps the meaning on the back of the card. It is built for the dictionary game, where players write fake definitions and vote. There are 141 words in two levels, from bumbershoot to zarf, each checked in two dictionaries.

Run a round from one phone

One player is the picker and holds the phone so nobody else can see it. The card shows a word, its part of speech and how to say it: read it aloud and spell it. Anyone who truly knows the word says so, and the picker taps Got it to deal another. Everyone else writes a believable fake definition on a slip, initials it and hands it in. The picker taps Show answer, copies the real meaning onto a slip, shuffles the pile and reads every definition aloud twice. Players vote on the second reading. The picker does not vote.

Scoring, and the rules that vary

A common count: one point if you vote for the real definition, and one point for every vote your fake collects. If nobody finds the real one, the picker takes three. Then the phone passes left. Rules vary from house to house, so settle two things first. Is a correct guess worth one point or two? Two rewards knowing words; one rewards bluffing. And may you vote for your own fake to draw others in? If you allow it, give no point for it. Play to a set score, or until everyone has been the picker once.

The printed list and what the phone remembers

All 141 words are printed under the tool with their meanings, so only the picker should scroll down. Show only narrows the deck to one level: 95 odd but guessable words or 46 truly obscure ones. Print cards lays the words out twelve to a sheet with the meanings on the back, mirrored for double-sided printing. Tap Missed it on a word worth replaying and it waits in the Missed pile. The page keeps your tally and that pile in this browser; Reset clears both.

Tips

• Start on the guessable level. Words like kerfuffle and skedaddle feel familiar, so the fakes come quickly and new players relax.
• Write fakes in dictionary style. Open with a phrase such as any of several, and keep it to one line.
• Plain fakes fool more people than fancy ones. For zarf, a flat-bottomed boat beats a long Latin-sounding answer.
• Use the part of speech. If the card says verb, a fake that does not start with to gives itself away.
• Have the picker copy every slip in one handwriting, so nobody spots a friend's writing.

Questions and answers