Association of British Scrabble Players

Science & Tech > Other Life > Reptiles


Now updated for CSW19. New words, if any, and new inflections of existing words, are shown in red.


aboma a S. American snake.
adder a venomous snake.
agama agamid a tropical lizard.
agamoid having the features of an AGAMID.
aligarta alligarta an old term for alligator.
alligator a reptile of a mainly American family related to the crocodile but with a shorter, broader snout and non-protruding teeth.
amphisbaena a worm-lizard; also, a mythical two-headed serpent or lizard.
anaconda a S. American boa of the genus Eunectes.
anguifauna the snakes of a region.
anguine of or pertaining to snakes.
anole a tropical lizard.
asp a venomous snake.
aspick an asp.
aspish pertaining to, or like, an asp.
basilisk a harmless crested lizard of Central America; also, a legendary lizard/serpent with lethal breath and glance.
blacksnake a snake of a black color, found in the US.
blindworm a kind of legless lizard, aka slowworm.
boa a kind of constricting snake.
boma a S. American boa and anaconda.
boomslang a highly venomous southern African tree-snake.
bullsnake an American burrowing snake.
bushmaster a venomous snake.
caiman cayman the South American alligator.
cameleon chameleon chamaeleon a lizardlike reptile of the genus Chamaeleo, of several species, found in Africa, Asia, and Europe.
camoodi (Caribbean) an anaconda.
cerastes a genus of poisonous African serpents, with a horny scale over each eye; the horned viper. [Gk. kerastes, from keras, a horn].
chelonian any member of the turtle or tortoise family.
chuckwalla chuckawalla an iguanid lizard of Mexico and the south-western US. [Mex. Sp. chacahuala from Amer. Indian.]
coachwhip a large, slender, harmless snake of the southern United States. [Strange that this is non-TLW when it's your snake — so what do you call it?]
cobra a kind of snake.
cobric of or like a cobra.
cobriform like or related to the cobra.
colubrid a kind of snake, including the garter and king snake.
colubriform shaped like a snake.
colubrine like a snake; cunning.
cooter a kind of turtle.
copperhead a poisonous American serpent, closely allied to the rattlesnake, but without rattles.
cottonmouth an American snake.
croc crocodile.
crocodile a large long-tailed tropical reptile of the genus Crocodilus (order Crocodilia).
crotaline of or pertaining to rattlesnakes.
dendrophis a snake of the genus Dendrophis, a tree snake.
diamondback a kind of rattlesnake.
diapsid a reptile whose skull has two pairs of temporal arches > DIAPSIDS. Cf. SYNAPSID.
dipsas a fabulous snake whose bite was believed to cause intense thirst. [Gk. dipsa, thirst]. Pl. DIPSADES.
draco as in draco lizard, a kind of flying lizard. No —S.
dugite an Australian venomous snake.
elapid a kind of snake, including cobras, krait, taipan etc.
elapine like or pertaining to the Elapidae, a family of venomous snakes, including the cobras.
emyd emyde a genus of freshwater terrapin.
emys a genus of freshwater terrapin > EMYDES.
gaboon a kind of snake, the gaboon viper.
galapago a kind of tortoise > GALAPAGOS.
galliwasp a West Indian lizard, about a foot long, imagined by the natives to be venomous.
garial gavial gharial an Indian crocodile with a long snout. [Hindi ghariyal, crocodile].
gator gater an alligator.
gavialoid of or like a GAVIAL.
gecko any lizard of the family Geckonidae. Pl. GECKOS or GECKOES.
gila a large tuberculated lizard native to Arizona, New Mexico, etc.
goanna a kind of lizard.
gotcha as in gotcha lizard, an Australian name for a crocodile. No —S.
guana any large lizard.
habu a venomous snake, found in Asia.
hamadryad a king cobra. Also a wood-nymph; also a kind of baboon. Pl. HAMADRYADS or HAMADRYADES.
hatteria a kind of New Zealand lizard, aka SPHENODON or TUATERA.
hawkbill hawksbill a kind of sea turtle.
herpetoid of or relating to snakes.
hicatee hiccatee a West Indian freshwater tortoise.
hognose a short-bodied, harmless American snake.
iguana a tropical lizard.
iguanian resembling, or pertaining to, the IGUANA.
iguanid any member of the iguana family.
jacare (Tupi) the caiman.
jararaca jararaka a venomous serpent of Brazil.
kabaragoya (Tagalog) a very large monitor lizard.
kingsnake a N. American snake.
karait krait a venomous snake of India.
lacertian relating to lizards; (noun) a member of the lizard family > LACERTIANS.
lacertid a lizard.
lacertilian of or pertaining to lizards; (noun) a member of the lizard family > LACERTILIANS.
lacertine a member of the lizard family > LACERTINES.
langaha a colubriform snake of Madagascar; its nose is prolonged in the form of a sharp blade.
leatherback a kind of turtle.
leguaan leguan (Dutch) a large S. African lizard.
lizard any member of the Lacertilia, an order of scaly reptiles, usu. differing from snakes in having four legs, movable eyelids, and non-expansible mouths.
loggerhead a large-headed sea turtle.
mamba a venomous African snake.
massasauga a kind of rattlesnake.
matamata the bearded tortoise of South American rivers.
moccasin mocassin a kind of N. American pit-viper.
mokomoko (Maori) a kind of SKINK.
moloch a spiny Australian lizard.
muggar mugger muggur a broad-snouted Indian crocodile. [Hindi magar].
naga a snake, especially the cobra; a divine snake (Hindu mythology).
ngarara (Maori) a lizard found in New Zealand.
ophidian of or like a snake.
perentie perenty (Native Australian) a large Australian monitor lizard.
python a large snake that suffocates its victims by constriction.
rattler a rattlesnake.
rattlesnake a venomous American pit-viper with rattling horny rings on the end of its tail.
reptilian a reptile.
reptilious like a reptile.
reptiloid a reptile-like creature > REPTILOIDS.
ridley a marine turtle.
ringhals rinkhals an African snake that spits its venom. Pl. RINGHALSES, RINKHALSES.
saltie a saltwater crocodile.
saurian any of a group (Sauria) of reptiles, lizard like.
sauroid like or pertaining to the saurians.
scincoid scincoidian (any animal) resembling a SKINK.
seps a skink of the genus Seps with a serpentlike body.
serpent  
serpentry serpents collectively.
skink a type of lizard; also a verb, meaning to pour out.
slowworm a kind of legless lizard.
snake  
snakelike like a snake.
snaky snakey like a snake > SNAKIER, SNAKIEST.
snakiness being like a snake.
snakish having the qualities or characteristics of a snake; snaky.
sphenodon an animal of the genus, also known as HATTERIA, to which the TUATARA belongs.
sphenodont relating to a SPHENODON; (noun) a sphenodon > SPHENODONTS
stellio as in stellio lizard, a STELLION.
stellion an E. Mediterranean lizard with starry spots.
stinkpot a common musk turtle found in SE Canada and the eastern US, which emits a foul-smelling secretion when disturbed.
sucuruju a S. American Indian term for the anaconda.
sungazer an African lizard given to basking in the sun.
surucucu a S. American Indian name for the bushmaster snake.
synapsid a reptile of the extinct subclass Synapsida, aka mammal-like reptile.
taipan an Australian venomous snake.
tegu teguexin a large black and yellow S. American lizard.
teiid a tropical American lizard.
thalassian a type of sea turtle.
tokay a large gecko of southern Asia and Indonesia.
tortoise  
tuatara tuatera a primitive reptile found in New Zealand, of the genus Hatteria.
uta any of a genus of large lizards.
varan a monitor lizard.
viperine of or pertaining to a viper or vipers; resembling a viper.
viperish like a viper.
viperishly in a viperish manner.
viperlike like a viper.
viperous having the qualities of a viper; venomous.
whiptail a kind of lizard with a long slender tail.
whipsnake a long thin snake.
worral worrel an Egyptian fork-tongued lizard, about four feet long when full grown. [Arabic waral, lizard].
zonure a kind of tropical lizard.