Random word generator: get random words in one tap
This random word generator gives you random English words, from one to twenty at a time. Choose nouns, verbs, adjectives or any kind, press Generate and a fresh list slides in. Tap a word to copy it. It is free, with no account and no app to install, and it runs in the browser on a phone, tablet or computer.
It is made for game nights, classrooms, writers, improv groups and anyone who wants a word they did not choose themselves. All the words are common and family-friendly, so it is safe to put on a big screen in front of kids.
How to use the word generator
The tool reads like a sentence: “Give me 3 words of any kind”. Tap each part to change it.
- How many. Tap the number to get 1, 3, 5, 10 or 20 words.
- What kind. Choose any kind, nouns (things, like “penguin” or “umbrella”), verbs (actions, like “juggle” or “tiptoe”) or adjectives (describing words, like “fluffy” or “golden”).
- Generate. Press Generate or the Space bar. A new list replaces the old one.
- Copy. Tap a word to copy it, or use Copy all to copy the whole list.
- Use your voice. Tap the microphone in the header and say “generate” or “another”.
The full screen button in the header makes the words big enough for a classroom or a stream. Your settings are remembered in your own browser, nothing is sent to a server, and the tool keeps working offline once loaded.
What is in the word list
The words come from a hand-picked list of 1,000 common, family-friendly English words: 500 nouns, 250 verbs and 250 adjectives. Nouns are singular and mostly things you can picture or draw: animals, food, toys, vehicles, places and weather. Verbs are in their base form (“swim”, not “swimming”). There are no rude words and no brand names, and no word appears in two lists.
Ideas for random words
- Drawing and guessing games. One player gets a noun and draws it while the others guess. Animals, food and objects make good rounds. Set it to 1 noun, keep the screen away from the guessers and press Generate for each turn.
- Charades. Verbs are made for acting out: “sneeze”, “juggle”, “tiptoe”. Add a noun for harder rounds.
- Writing prompts. Get 3 nouns and write a short story that uses all three. Teachers can show the list in full screen for the whole class.
- Brainstorming. A random word pushes your thinking somewhere new. Ask how “lighthouse” or “octopus” could relate to your problem and see what comes up.
- Improv. Get a suggestion without waiting for the audience. A noun can set the scene and an adjective can set the mood.
- Vocabulary practice. Language learners and young readers can say each word aloud, use it in a sentence or find its opposite (adjectives work well for this).
- Naming things. Pair an adjective with a noun for a team name, a project code name or a username idea: “brave penguin”, “golden rocket”.
The math behind the words
Words are drawn with your browser’s cryptographic random generator (crypto.getRandomValues), the same kind of source used for security. Within a list, every word has the same chance, and each new list is independent of the last one.
| Kind | Words | Chance of a given word |
|---|---|---|
| Nouns | 500 | 1 in 500 |
| Verbs | 250 | 1 in 250 |
| Adjectives | 250 | 1 in 250 |
| Any kind | 1,000 | Mixes all three lists |
Combining words gives you a lot of room. There are 250 × 500 = 125,000 possible adjective and noun pairs, and as many verb and noun pairs. Three nouns for a writing prompt can make more than 20 million different sets, so you are unlikely to see the same prompt twice.
A bit of history: games with chance words
Putting chance words together is an old creative trick. In the 1920s, the Surrealist artists in Paris played a game called “exquisite corpse” (cadavre exquis). Each player added a word to a sentence on a folded sheet of paper, without seeing what the others had written. The name is said to come from one of the first sentences it produced: “The exquisite corpse will drink the new wine.” Acting out words is older still. Charades was a popular parlor game in the 1800s, and a round of it is played in Charlotte Brontë’s novel Jane Eyre (1847).
More tools for games and classrooms
Need a single letter instead of a word? Try the random letter generator. For character names to go with your story words, use the random name generator. Splitting the room for a drawing game? The random team generator does it in one tap, and truth or dare keeps the party going.