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hour

/aʊɚ/
noun

HOUR means a sixty-minute unit of time; it scores 7 points in Scrabble and has no anagrams.

NWL Collins ENABLE

Noun 4 meanings

  1. A unit of time of one twenty-fourth of a day (sixty minutes).

    “Near-synonym: microcentury (humorous approximation)”

  2. A season, moment, or time.

    “Don't come home ever again at this unearthly hour.”

  3. The time.

    “The hour grows late and I must go home.”

  4. Used after a two-digit hour and a two-digit minute to indicate time.

Definitions: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA) via Kaikki/Wiktextract

Where it comes from

Etymology

From Middle English houre, hour, oure, from Old French houre, from Latin hōra (“hour”), from Ancient Greek ὥρα (hṓra, “any time or period, whether of the year, month, or day”), from Proto-Indo-European *yóh₁r̥ (“year, season”). Akin to Old English ġēar (“year”). Doublet of hora and year. Compare horary.

Similar and opposite words

Similar
stoundmicrocentury

An hour is also a particular moment, season, or time, so the word works beyond clock reading. It is common in English: its frequency rank is 643, with a count of 112,782. HOUR is four letters long, begins with H, and ends with R, placing it among 259 H-starting and 181 R-ending words of the same length.

HOUR at a glance

  • HOUR’s Scrabble value is 7: H contributes 4, and O, U, and R contribute 1 apiece.
  • No rearrangement of H, O, U, and R makes an anagram of HOUR.
  • Thirteen one-letter neighbours include YOUR, FOUR, TOUR, POUR, and SOUR.
  • Twelve rhymes include FOUR, TOUR, COLOUR, HONOUR, and FAVOUR.

What does HOUR mean?

HOUR names a unit equal to one twenty-fourth of a day, or sixty minutes. It can also mean a season, moment, or time; “the hour” can refer to a particular time. In time notation, it follows a two-digit hour and a two-digit minute.

That range is why HOUR is not limited to schedules: “the hour” can point to a time or occasion. No rearrangement of H, O, U, and R appears as an anagram in Collins, NWL2023, or ENABLE, despite the four distinct letters.

How is the HOUR Scrabble score calculated?

Scrabble scoring starts with H at 4 points; O, U, and R are each worth 1, making HOUR’s face value 7 before any board bonus. H supplies four of the seven points, so placing H on a premium letter square matters more than extending the word across a premium word square.

For a clue, compare familiar neighbours YOUR, FOUR, TOUR, POUR, and SOUR before testing rarer forms such as JOUR, COUR, HOUT, or HOUF. HOUR rhymes with twelve entries, including COLOUR, HONOUR, and HARBOUR; those rhyme matches are not anagram options. Some neighbours are uncommon, so check your game's word list before playing a disputed one.

Rhymes with hour

All rhymes

One letter away

Change one letter, keep the rest
  • YOUR7
  • FOUR7
  • TOUR4
  • POUR6
  • SOUR4
  • JOUR11
  • COUR6
  • DOUR5
  • HOAR7
  • HOUT7
  • LOUR4
  • HOER7
  • HOUF10

Questions people ask

Is HOUR a valid Scrabble word?
Yes, HOUR is a valid word in Collins, NWL2023, and ENABLE. It means a unit of sixty minutes, and its four tiles add to 7 points before board bonuses. A rare one-letter neighbour is not automatically valid in every game, so check the word list your game uses.
What words rhyme with HOUR?
Twelve words rhyme with HOUR, including YOUR, FOUR, TOUR, POUR, and SOUR. Longer examples include COLOUR, HONOUR, BEHAVIOUR, and HARBOUR. Rhyming words share a sound, not necessarily the same spelling or meaning, and they are not anagrams of HOUR.
Can you make an anagram of HOUR?
No anagrams of HOUR appear in the word sets used here. Its letters are H, O, U, and R, and rearranging all four does not produce another recorded word. One-letter changes are different: YOUR, FOUR, TOUR, POUR, and SOUR are neighbours, not anagrams.

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