Scrabble embraces gender identity among nearly 3,000 new words

Dielle Saldanha, 19, places letters to spell a word while playing an opponent during a meeting of the Vancouver Scrabble Club in Vancouver, B.C., on Thursday August 14, 2008. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck)

Scrabble has embraced gender identity among the nearly 3,000 new words added to the games’ official dictionary.

The makers of the classic board game were also inspired by slang, adding words including “bae," which means someone you are romantically involved with, and social media terms like “sharenting,” the habitual sharing of news and images about one’s child.

Other new words include “genderqueer,” a person with a non-traditional gender identity (22 points), and a new two-letter gender neutral pronoun “ze” (11 points).

Some 2,862 new entries were added to the latest edition of “Collins Official Scrabble Words,” bringing the total acceptable words allowed in the game to 278,862.

Dictionary publisher Collins also brought in words from the fashion, food and fitness worlds, adding “athleisure,” wearing sports clothes as leisurewear, “bao,” a steamed dumpling and “dadbod,” an untoned and slightly plump male physique.

A host of new Scrabble words relate to lifestyle trends including “plogging,” picking up litter while jogging, and “fleek,” used in the phrase “on fleek,” meaning stylish.

Other slang terms and interjections now accepted include “ew,” an expression of disgust, and “yowza,” meaning wow or any exclamation of surprise.

New words making daily headlines have also been added, including “omnishambles,” a situation that has been completely mismanaged, and “postfact.”

Other high scoring new entries include:

Asphyxying (29 points) – a rare word for asphyxia

Hackerazzo (27) - a person who hacks into the computer or phone of a celebrity in order to gain information about him or her

Bizjet (24) - small aeroplane used by business people

Aquafaba (22) - a vegan substitute for egg whites