Weather for Hangman ๐ฆ๏ธ
A curated set of example weather words sorted by difficulty, each with a clue - ideal for teachers building a science topic round or quiz hosts picking a themed game. The lists below move from everyday weather chat to the instruments and terms real weather scientists use. To play hangman online with a different set of words, try the Weather category on Hangmango.
Play Weather Hangman ๐ฅญEasy weather words for hangman
Short everyday words, mostly 3-6 letters - dew, a thaw, a flurry and a halo round the Moon; cool, nippy and balmy days; plus the sky above, weather radar and the climate.
Medium weather words for hangman
The vocabulary of a good weather report - two Latin sky names (cirrus and cumulus), a cold front, squalls and whiteouts, the zephyr and the trade winds, plus the weather vane, the thermometer and the Celsius scale.
Hard weather-science words for hangman
Genuine weather science that will test even a keen weather-watcher - two instruments (anemometer and hygrometer), a line on the weather map (isotherm), a shapeless, often dark-grey cloud (nimbostratus), a smell (petrichor), soft pellets (graupel), a blast from the Sahara (sirocco), the sailors' doldrums, the Beaufort scale and the polar vortex.
Clues for every word
A one-line clue for every word, easy to hard, each one checked against a source - read them out when you run your own game. These words and clues are separate from the ones in the online game, so they won't give its answers away.
- Dew
- Water droplets that appear on exposed things like grass and leaves in the morning or evening.
- Sky
- What you see when you look up from the ground; by day it looks blue, and at night it is dark and full of stars.
- Thaw
- A spell of weather warm enough to melt ice and snow, or the gradual melting of something frozen.
- Cool
- A little cold, the kind that brings relief from heat; informally, it also means fashionable.
- Nippy
- Informal word for rather cold weather; in the UK it can also mean fast or speedy.
- Balmy
- Describes weather that is mild and pleasant; it can also mean soothing or fragrant.
- Radar
- Equipment weather services use to locate rain, snow or hail and work out how it is moving.
- Halo
- A ring of light round the Sun or Moon, made by ice crystals in the air; it is often a sign of rain within a day.
- Climate
- The long-term pattern of weather in a region, typically averaged over 30 years.
- Flurry
- A light, brief fall of snow; the word can also mean any sudden burst of activity.
- Cirrus
- Usually delicate, wispy clouds high in the sky, made of ice crystals; the name is Latin for a curl.
- Cumulus
- Low, puffy, cotton-like clouds with flat bases; the name is Latin for heap, and they usually bring little or no rain.
- Squall
- A sudden, sharp rise in wind speed that lasts for minutes rather than only seconds.
- Whiteout
- Weather in which snow, fog or sand cuts visibility so badly that the horizon disappears and sky and land look featureless.
- Cold Front
- The leading edge of a cooler mass of air that replaces warmer air; rain can fall along the boundary.
- Zephyr
- A light wind from the west; the word can also mean anything fine, soft or light, especially fabric.
- Trade Winds
- Prevailing easterlies near the Equator, used by captains of sailing ships for centuries to cross the oceans.
- Weather Vane
- Device usually fixed to the top of a building to show the wind's direction, often with a cockerel design.
- Thermometer
- Device that measures how hot or cold something is, used in weather science, medicine and cooking.
- Celsius
- Scale for how hot or cold it is, named after a Swedish astronomer; most countries use it, but not the US.
- Anemometer
- Instrument that measures wind speed and direction; it is common equipment at weather stations.
- Hygrometer
- Instrument that measures how much water vapour is in the air; Leonardo da Vinci invented a prototype in 1480.
- Isotherm
- A line on a weather map along which every point is equally warm or cold.
- Nimbostratus
- A shapeless, often dark-grey cloud that usually brings continuous rain or snow over a wide area.
- Petrichor
- The earthy scent often noticed when rain falls on dry soil or rock, named by two Australian scientists in 1964.
- Graupel
- Small soft pellets that form when supercooled droplets freeze onto falling snowflakes; also called popcorn snow.
- Sirocco
- A Mediterranean wind that comes from the Sahara and can blow very hard in North Africa and southern Europe.
- Beaufort Scale
- A measure, devised in 1805 by a Royal Navy hydrographer, that links wind speed to what you see at sea or on land.
- Doldrums
- Sailors' name for the windless belt round Earth near the Equator, where winds from the northeast and southeast meet.
- Polar Vortex
- A large region of cold, rotating air; such regions circle both the Arctic and the Antarctic.
What makes weather words hard to guess in hangman?
-us endings. Four of the thirty end in -us - cirrus (from the Latin for "curl"), cumulus (Latin for "heap"), nimbostratus and Celsius - an ending that's easy to misspell as -ous.
Borrowed words. Graupel is German, sirocco comes from Arabic and petrichor was built from two Greek words, so their letter patterns can feel unfamiliar.
Letters you don't hear. Beaufort is said "BOH-fert", so the E-A-U after its B is easy to miss when you're spelling it out from the sound.
Double letters. Six words hide a doubled letter - cool, flurry, nippy, cirrus, squall and sirocco - when a guess lands there, two blanks fill at once, so the word can open up faster than its length suggests.
Tips for guessing weather words
Guess R first on the hard tier. All ten hard words contain an R, from anemometer to polar vortex.
Then try O on the hard tier. Nine of the ten hard words have an O - only graupel doesn't.
Don't lean on E on the easy tier. Only two of the ten easy words have an E (dew and climate) - try A, which is in five of them, and Y, which ends four.
Watch for -meter. Thermometer, anemometer and hygrometer all end in M-E-T-E-R - once you spot it, the real puzzle is the front half.
Look for the gap. Five of the thirty are two words - cold front, trade winds, weather vane, Beaufort scale and polar vortex - so the space gives away the shape.
Questions
What is the hardest weather word to guess in hangman?
Nimbostratus and Beaufort scale are strong candidates - at 12 and 13 letters they're the longest here, and Beaufort hides E-A-U where you only hear an O.
Is this good for ESL learners?
Yes - weather is one of the most common early ESL topics, and the three difficulty levels suit beginners through advanced learners. The easy tier is full of handy describing words like cool, nippy and balmy.
Can I use these words in my own hangman game?
Absolutely - this list is here to use, clues and all. If you'd prefer to play online with weather as the category right now, click here to start a game.
Play more: Weather Hangman ยท Weather strategy guide ยท Daily Challenge ยท Science word list ยท Summer word list ยท For Teachers