Palindromic words

English palindromic words

This list includes some proper names, hyphenated words and archaic words, as well as some names and words of foreign origin. The primary criterion for inclusion here is that the word is listed in one or more of the dictionaries or encyclopedias referenced by the OneLook dictionary search. However, some entries have been included on the basis of plausible evidence from other websites, or the application of living prefixes or suffixes (such as -er, meaning agent). Surnames are excluded. Some place names have also been omitted on the grounds of being too obscure.

12 letters

• tattarrattat – the second longest palindrome in the Oxford English Dictionary, coined by James Joyce in Ulysses for a knock on the door

11 letters

• aibohphobia – a joke word meaning "fear of palindromes", deliberately constructed so as to be one (various other words have been contrived along these lines, such as ailihphilia, a love of palindromes, elihphile, a lover of palindromes, etc.)
• detartrated – past tense of “to detartrate”, a chemical term meaning to remove tartrates; alternatively an adjective indicating that tartrates have indeed been removed (this is the longest English palindrome in the Guinness Book of Records, though it is not listed in dictionaries; it is, however, encountered in some discussions of Concord grape juice
• kinnikinnik – variant (or common misspelling) of kinnikinnick, a Native American smoking mixture
• retrosorter (inferred form) aptly describes a person who contrives palindromes.

9 letters

• deleveled - something that goes out of level
• evitative – a grammatical case indicating fear or aversion
• redivider – someone or something that redivides (tied for longest 'real’ palindrome that is not a proper noun and appears in English dictionaries)
• releveler – (US spelling) someone or something that levels again (tied for longest 'real’ palindrome that is not a proper noun and appears in English dictionaries).
• Rotavator – a type of machine for breaking up soil (trademark)

7 letters

• Adinida – a suborder of planktonic organisms
• deified – past tense of "to deify", meaning to consider as a god
• Hagigah
• murdrum – in old English law, a secret killing
• Nauruan – the language spoken in Nauru
• peeweep – a type of bird, often understood to be a lapwing
• racecar – a racing car
• reifier – someone who reifies (considers an abstract concept to be real)
• repaper – to cover again with paper
• reviver – someone or something that revives or restores
• rotator – a thing that rotates
• seities – plural of seity, the essence of an individual
• sememes – plural of sememe, the interpretation given to a morpheme (a language unit)
• Senones – an ancient people who lived in part of what is now France
• SIXAXIS – the name of the official PlayStation 3 controller
• soosoos – plural of soosoo, a type of dolphin
• Zerorez - Registered trademark for a carpet cleaning system (from Zero residue)

6 letters

• denned – past tense of to den, meaning to live in a den
• hallah – a variant of challah, a type of bread traditionally eaten by Jews
• mallam – in West Africa, a learned man
• marram – a type of grass
• pip-pip – an old-fashioned British word for goodbye
• pull-up or pullup – an exercise in which one pulls oneself up by the arms
• redder – more red
• renner – an archaic variant of runner
• revver – someone or something that revs (an engine)
• selles – plural of selle, an archaic word for a saddle
• sesses – plural or third-person present tense of sess, an archaic word for tax (a variant of assess)
• succus – any of various liquids excreted by animals or plants
• terret – a metal ring on a harness, through which the reins pass
• Tippit – a leading VoIP news company
• tirrit – according to Webster’s Dictionary (1913): "A word from the vocabulary of Mrs. Quickly, the hostess in Shakespeare’s Henry IV., probably meaning terror"
• tut-tut – a disapproving sound; to make such a sound

5 letters

• alala – a type of Hawaiian crow
• alula – a structure forming part of a bird’s wing
• arara – a type of Australian cockatoo; also a Brazilian macaw
• civic – relating to a city
• debed – to remove someone from a bed
• deked – past tense of "to deke", meaning to deceive (especially in ice hockey)
• deled – past tense of "to dele", meaning to delete (a passage of text)
• dered – past tense of "to dere", an archaic word meaning to harm
• dewed – past tense of "to dew", meaning to cover with dew
• dexed – past tense of "to dex", meaning to drink robotussin
• Hamah – variant of hama, a city in Syria
• Igigi – a class of Sumerian gods
• irori - traditional Japanese sunken fireplace
• kaiak – variant of kayak
• Kanak – a native of New Caledonia; also, short for Kanakaole i.e. Hawaiian surname
• kayak – a light Inuit canoe
• Kazak – a member of a people inhabiting the central Asian republic of Kazakhstan; their language
• kelek – a type of raft used in the Middle East
• level – various common meanings
• Liril – a cosmetic soap popular in India
• madam – a polite form of address for a woman
• minim – a musical note having half the duration of a full note
• neven – "To name; to mention; to utter. [Obs.]" (definition from Webster’s Dictionary, 1913)
• put-up – deceitful, as in a put-up job
• radar – a method of detecting objects using radio waves (acronym from Radio Detection And Ranging, so it’s self-defining too - i. e., the word "bounces back" like a radar signal)
• refer – various common meanings
• rotor – something that rotates
• sagas – plural of saga, a long narrative story
• semes – plural of seme, a linguistic element
• seres – plural of sere, a series of stages of ecological development
• sexes – plural of sex
• shahs – plural of shah, a former name for the king of Iran
• Sinis – variant of siris (q.v.)
• siris – a type of tree; (with cap.) a figure in Greek mythology
• solos – plural of solo
• stats – contraction of statistics
• stets – third-person present tense of "to stet", meaning to indicate that a passage of text should remain unchanged
• stots – third-person present tense of "to stot", meaning to leap or bounce
• sulus – plural of sulu, a type of sarong
• Susus – plural of Susu, a member of a West African people
• tenet – a belief or principle
• torot

4 letters

• acca
  
• adda – a type of lizard; ; (with capital) a river in Italy or Wales
• affa – "A weight used on the Guinea coast, equal to an ounce" (definition from Webster’s Dictionary, 1828)
• alla
  
• anna – an Indian coin; (with capital) a girl’s name
• Beeb – an informal name for the BBC
• boob – a blunder; a breast
• deed – various common meanings
• esse – existence or essence
• goog – an egg (Australian slang)
• immi – a Swiss unit of volume
• keek – to peep
• kook – a crazy person
• ma'am – a contraction of madam
• naan – a type of Indian bread
• noon – midday
• oppo
• otto – variant of attar, an essential oil
• peep – various common meanings
• poop – a raised deck at the stern of a ship; various other meanings
• sees – third-person present tense of ‘to see’
• toot – the sound made by a horn or whistle

3 letters

• aba – a fabric woven of the hair of camels or goats
• aga – title for a civil or military leader, especially in Turkey
• aha – used to express surprise, pleasure or triumph
• ala – a wing or winglike structure or part
• ama – a housemaid, especially a wet nurse, in India and the Far East
• ana – a collection of various materials that reflect the character of a person or place, e.g. 'early 1900’s Americana’; (with capital) a girl’s name
• Ara – a star constellation; a genus of macaws
• ava – a species of Macropiper (M. methysticum), the long pepper, from the root of which an intoxicating beverage is made by the Polynesians; also a girl’s name
• awa – away (Official Scrabble Players Dictionary)
• bib – a piece of cloth or plastic secured under the chin and worn, especially by small children, to protect the clothing while eating
• bob – to float on the surface of water; (with capital) shortened form of Robert, a boy’s name
• bub – used as a term of familiar address, especially for a man or boy ('See you around, bub.’)
• dad – father
• did – past tense of 'do’
• dud – something that doesn’t work or succeed
• eke – to obtain by great effort
• eme – a distinctive unit of linguistic structure
• ere – before (archaic or poetic)
• eve – the period immediately preceding a certain event; (with capital) a girl’s name
• ewe – a female sheep
• eye – the organ of sight
• gag – something forced into or put over the mouth to prevent speaking or crying out; the act or an instance of gagging or choking
• gig – a music event; also, a light two-wheeled carriage
• gog – roof, covering
• hah – variation of 'Ha!’
• heh – used to express contempt; part of a snigger ('heh-heh’)
• huh – used to express interrogation, surprise, contempt or indifference
• mim – demure
• mom – mother (US)
• mum – mother (UK); a reference to silence (usually with "keep")
• nan – variation of 'nanny’
• non – prefix meaning 'not’ or 'against’
• nun – female clergy
• oho – used to express surprise, comprehension, or mock astonishment
• omo – prefix; shoulder: omohyoid; also, a brand of washing powder sometimes used as the generic term for all washing powder
• ono – 'grief or strength or iniquity of him’ (Easton’s 1897 Bible Dictionary)
• oxo – oxime; (with capital) a brand of stock cubes
• pap – (midland US) a teat or nipple
• pep – energy and high spirits
• pip – a seed; also, to get the better of
• pop – cola; also, to burst
• pup – the young of any of various mammals
• sis – shortened form of 'sister’
• sos – plural of 'so’, the fifth tone of the diatonic scale
• tat – tattoo
• tet – the ninth letter of the Hebrew alphabet
• tit – a small bird (UK); a breast
• tot – a small child; a small quantity of liquid
• tut – used to express annoyance, impatience or mild reproof ('Tut, tut, child!’)
• wow – used to express amazement
• yay – used to express happiness/delight
• zzz – the sound of snoring

2 letters

• aa – lava having a rough surface (pron. a’a’)
• ee – an extinct Hawaiian bird (pron. e’e’)
• mm – used to express satisfaction
• oo – a rare Hawaiian bird (pronounced "oh-oh"); also a Scottish word for "wool"; also 'one’ (obs. Chaucer English)