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BIP39 Word List: The Complete 2048-Word Mnemonic Phrase Standard

D
DCS AI & Admin
Cybersecurity Analyst
Cover image: BIP39 Word List: The Complete 2048-Word Mnemonic Phrase Standard

BIP39 word list: the complete 2048-word mnemonic phrase standard

The official BIP39 word list is a set of 2048 unique English words, standardized and published by the Bitcoin community. Wallets that follow BIP-39 use this list to generate and interpret mnemonic phrases — those 12 or 24-word backups used to recover your crypto.

Words are arranged alphabetically and chosen so no two sound alike, preventing mistakes when entering your recovery seed. Each word can be uniquely identified by its first four characters — meaning you only ever need to type 4 characters to identify any word in the list.

This list can be especially helpful if you're trying to reconstruct a missing or incomplete phrase.

The complete BIP39 word list

A

abandon, ability, able, about, above, absent, absorb, abstract, absurd, abuse, access, accident, account, accuse, achieve, acid, acoustic, acquire, across, act, action, actor, actress, actual, adapt, add, addict, address, adjust, admit, adult, advance, advice, aerobic, affair, afford, afraid, again, age, agent, agree, ahead, aim, air, airport, aisle, alarm, album, alcohol, alert, alien, all, alley, allow, almost, alone, alpha, already, also, alter, always, amateur, amazing, among, amount, amused, analyst, anchor, ancient, anger, angle, angry, animal, ankle, announce, annual, another, answer, antenna, antique, anxiety, any, apart, apology, appear, apple, approve, april, arch, arctic, area, arena, argue, arm, armed, armor, army, around, arrange, arrest, arrive, arrow, art, artefact, artist, artwork, ask, aspect, assault, asset, assist, assume, asthma, athlete, atom, attack, attend, attitude, attract, auction, audit, august, aunt, author, auto, autumn, average, avocado, avoid, awake, aware, away, awesome, awful, awkward, axis

B

baby, bachelor, bacon, badge, bag, balance, balcony, ball, bamboo, banana, banner, bar, barely, bargain, barrel, base, basic, basket, battle, beach, bean, beauty, because, become, beef, before, begin, behave, behind, believe, below, belt, bench, benefit, best, betray, better, between, beyond, bicycle, bid, bike, bind, biology, bird, birth, bitter, black, blade, blame, blanket, blast, bleak, bless, blind, blood, blossom, blouse, blue, blur, blush, board, boat, body, boil, bomb, bone, bonus, book, boost, border, boring, borrow, boss, bottom, bounce, box, boy, bracket, brain, brand, brass, brave, bread, breeze, brick, bridge, brief, bright, bring, brisk, broccoli, broken, bronze, broom, brother, brown, brush, bubble, buddy, budget, buffalo, build, bulb, bulk, bullet, bundle, bunker, burden, burger, burst, bus, business, busy, butter, buyer, buzz

C

cabal, cabbage, cabin, cable, cactus, cage, cake, call, calm, camera, camp, can, cancel, candy, cannon, canoe, canvas, canyon, capable, capital, captain, car, carbon, card, cargo, carpet, carry, cart, case, cash, casino, castle, casual, cat, catalog, catch, category, cattle, caught, cause, caution, cave, ceiling, celery, cement, census, century, cereal, certain, chair, chalk, champion, change, chaos, chapter, charge, chase, chat, cheap, check, cheese, chef, cherry, chest, chicken, chief, child, chimney, choice, choose, chronic, chuckle, chunk, churn, cigar, cinnamon, circle, citizen, city, civil, claim, clap, clarify, claw, clay, clean, clerk, clever, click, client, cliff, climb, clinic, clip, clock, clog, close, cloth, cloud, clown, club, clump, cluster, clutch, coach, coast, coconut, code, coffee, coil, coin, collect, color, column, combine, come, comfort, comic, common, company, concert, conduct, confirm, congress, connect, consider, control, convince, cook, cool, copper, copy, coral, core, corn, correct, cost, cotton, couch, country, couple, course, cousin, cover, coyote, crack, cradle, craft, cram, crane, crash, crater, crawl, crazy, cream, credit, creek, crew, cricket, crime, crisp, critic, crop, cross, crouch, crowd, crucial, cruel, cruise, crumble, crunch, crush, cry, crystal, cube, culture, cup, cupboard, curious, current, curtain, curve, cushion, custom, cute, cycle

D

dad, damage, damp, dance, danger, daring, dash, daughter, dawn, day, deal, debate, debris, decade, december, decide, decline, decorate, decrease, deer, defense, define, defy, degree, delay, deliver, demand, demise, denial, dentist, deny, depart, depend, deposit, depth, deputy, derive, describe, desert, design, desk, despair, destroy, detail, detect, develop, device, devote, diagram, dial, diamond, diary, dice, diesel, diet, differ, digital, dignity, dilemma, dinner, dinosaur, direct, dirt, disagree, discover, disease, dish, dismiss, disorder, display, distance, divert, divide, divorce, dizzy, doctor, document, dog, doll, dolphin, domain, donate, donkey, donor, door, dose, double, dove, draft, dragon, drama, drastic, draw, dream, dress, drift, drill, drink, drip, drive, drop, drum, dry, duck, dumb, dune, during, dust, dutch, duty, dwarf, dynamic

E

eager, eagle, early, earn, earth, easily, east, easy, echo, ecology, economy, edge, edit, educate, effort, egg, eight, either, elbow, elder, electric, elegant, element, elephant, elevator, elite, else, embark, embody, embrace, emerge, emotion, employ, empower, empty, enable, enact, end, endless, endorse, enemy, energy, enforce, engage, engine, enhance, enjoy, enlist, enough, enrich, enroll, ensure, enter, entire, entry, envelope, episode, equal, equip, era, erase, erode, erosion, error, erupt, escape, essay, essence, estate, eternal, ethics, evidence, evil, evoke, evolve, exact, example, excess, exchange, excite, exclude, excuse, execute, exercise, exhaust, exhibit, exile, exist, exit, exotic, expand, expect, expire, explain, expose, express, extend, extra, eye, eyebrow

F

fabric, face, faculty, fade, faint, faith, fall, false, fame, family, famous, fan, fancy, fantasy, farm, fashion, fat, fatal, father, fatigue, fault, favorite, feature, february, federal, fee, feed, feel, female, fence, festival, fetch, fever, few, fiber, fiction, field, figure, file, film, filter, final, find, fine, finger, finish, fire, firm, first, fiscal, fish, fit, fitness, fix, flag, flame, flash, flat, flavor, flee, flight, flip, float, flock, floor, flower, fluid, flush, fly, foam, focus, fog, foil, fold, follow, food, foot, force, forest, forget, fork, fortune, forum, forward, fossil, foster, found, fox, fragile, frame, frequent, fresh, friend, fringe, frog, front, frost, frown, frozen, fruit, fuel, fun, funny, furnace, fury, future

G

gadget, gain, galaxy, gallery, game, gap, garage, garbage, garden, garlic, garment, gas, gasp, gate, gather, gauge, gaze, general, genius, genre, gentle, genuine, gesture, ghost, giant, gift, giggle, ginger, giraffe, girl, give, glad, glance, glare, glass, glide, glimpse, globe, gloom, glory, glove, glow, glue, goat, goddess, gold, good, goose, gorilla, gospel, gossip, govern, gown, grab, grace, grain, grant, grape, grass, gravity, great, green, grid, grief, grit, grocery, group, grow, grunt, guard, guess, guide, guilt, guitar, gun, gym

H

habit, hair, half, hammer, hamster, hand, happy, harbor, hard, harsh, harvest, hat, have, hawk, hazard, head, health, heart, heavy, hedgehog, height, hello, helmet, help, hen, hero, hidden, high, hill, hint, hip, hire, history, hobby, hockey, hold, hole, holiday, hollow, home, honey, hood, hope, horn, horror, horse, hospital, host, hotel, hour, hover, hub, huge, human, humble, humor, hundred, hungry, hunt, hurdle, hurry, hurt, husband, hybrid

I

ice, icon, idea, identify, idle, ignore, ill, illegal, illness, image, imitate, immense, immune, impact, impose, improve, impulse, inch, include, income, increase, index, indicate, indoor, industry, infant, inflict, inform, inhale, inherit, initial, inject, injury, inmate, inner, innocent, input, inquiry, insane, insect, inside, inspire, install, intact, interest, into, invest, invite, involve, iron, island, isolate, issue, item, ivory

J

jacket, jaguar, jar, jazz, jealous, jeans, jelly, jewel, job, join, joke, journey, joy, judge, juice, jump, jungle, junior, junk, just

K

kangaroo, keen, keep, ketchup, key, kick, kid, kidney, kind, kingdom, kiss, kit, kitchen, kite, kitten, kiwi, knee, knife, knock, know

L

lab, label, labor, ladder, lady, lake, lamp, language, laptop, large, later, latin, laugh, laundry, lava, law, lawn, lawsuit, layer, lazy, leader, leaf, learn, leave, lecture, left, leg, legal, legend, leisure, lemon, lend, length, lens, leopard, lesson, letter, level, liar, liberty, library, license, life, lift, light, like, limb, limit, link, lion, liquid, list, little, live, lizard, load, loan, lobster, local, lock, logic, lonely, long, loop, lottery, loud, lounge, love, loyal, lucky, luggage, lumber, lunar, lunch, luxury, lyrics

M

machine, mad, magic, magnet, maid, mail, main, major, make, mammal, man, manage, mandate, mango, mansion, manual, maple, marble, march, margin, marine, market, marriage, mask, mass, master, match, material, math, matrix, matter, maximum, maze, meadow, mean, measure, meat, mechanic, medal, media, melody, melt, member, memory, mention, menu, mercy, merge, merit, merry, mesh, message, metal, method, middle, midnight, milk, million, mimic, mind, minimum, minor, minute, miracle, mirror, misery, miss, mistake, mix, mixed, mixture, mobile, model, modify, mom, moment, monitor, monkey, monster, month, moon, moral, more, morning, mosquito, mother, motion, motor, mountain, mouse, move, movie, much, muffin, mule, multiply, muscle, museum, mushroom, music, must, mutual, myself, mystery, myth

N

naive, name, napkin, narrow, nasty, nation, nature, near, neck, need, negative, neglect, neither, nephew, nerve, nest, net, network, neutral, never, news, next, nice, night, noble, noise, nominee, noodle, normal, north, nose, notable, note, nothing, notice, novel, now, nuclear, number, nurse, nut

O

oak, obey, object, oblige, obscure, observe, obtain, obvious, occur, ocean, october, odor, off, offer, office, often, oil, okay, old, olive, olympic, omit, once, one, onion, online, only, open, opera, opinion, oppose, option, orange, orbit, orchard, order, ordinary, organ, orient, original, orphan, ostrich, other, outdoor, outer, output, outside, oval, oven, over, own, owner, oxygen, oyster, ozone

P

pact, paddle, page, pair, palace, palm, panda, panel, panic, panther, paper, parade, parent, park, parrot, party, pass, patch, path, patient, patrol, pattern, pause, pave, payment, peace, peanut, pear, peasant, pelican, pen, penalty, pencil, people, pepper, perfect, permit, person, pet, phone, photo, phrase, physical, piano, picnic, picture, piece, pig, pigeon, pill, pilot, pink, pioneer, pipe, pistol, pitch, pizza, place, planet, plastic, plate, play, please, pledge, pluck, plug, plunge, poem, poet, point, polar, pole, police, pond, pony, pool, popular, portion, position, possible, post, potato, pottery, poverty, powder, power, practice, praise, predict, prefer, prepare, present, pretty, prevent, price, pride, primary, print, priority, prison, private, prize, problem, process, produce, profit, program, project, promote, proof, property, prosper, protect, proud, provide, public, pudding, pull, pulp, pulse, pumpkin, punch, pupil, puppy, purchase, purity, purpose, purse, push, put, puzzle, pyramid

Q

quality, quantum, quarter, question, quick, quit, quiz, quote

R

rabbit, raccoon, race, rack, radar, radio, rail, rain, raise, rally, ramp, ranch, random, range, rapid, rare, rate, rather, raven, raw, razor, ready, real, reason, rebel, rebuild, recall, receive, recipe, record, recycle, reduce, reflect, reform, refuse, region, regret, regular, reject, relax, release, relief, rely, remain, remember, remind, remove, render, renew, rent, reopen, repair, repeat, replace, report, require, rescue, resemble, resist, resource, response, result, retire, retreat, return, reunion, reveal, review, reward, rhythm, rib, ribbon, rice, rich, ride, ridge, rifle, right, rigid, ring, riot, ripple, risk, ritual, rival, river, road, roast, robot, robust, rocket, romance, roof, rookie, room, rose, rotate, rough, round, route, royal, rubber, rude, rug, rule, run, runway, rural

S

sad, saddle, sadness, safe, sail, salad, salmon, salon, salt, salute, same, sample, sand, satisfy, satoshi, sauce, sausage, save, say, scale, scan, scare, scatter, scene, scheme, school, science, scissors, scorpion, scout, scrap, screen, script, scrub, sea, search, season, seat, second, secret, section, security, seed, seek, segment, select, sell, seminar, senior, sense, sentence, series, service, session, settle, setup, seven, shadow, shaft, shallow, share, shed, shell, sheriff, shield, shift, shine, ship, shiver, shock, shoe, shoot, shop, short, shoulder, shove, shrimp, shrug, shuffle, shy, sibling, sick, side, siege, sight, sign, silent, silk, silly, silver, similar, simple, since, sing, siren, sister, situate, six, size, skate, sketch, ski, skill, skin, skirt, skull, slab, slam, sleep, slender, slice, slide, slight, slim, slogan, slot, slow, slush, small, smart, smile, smoke, smooth, snack, snake, snap, sniff, snow, soap, soccer, social, sock, soda, soft, solar, soldier, solid, solution, solve, someone, song, soon, sorry, sort, soul, sound, soup, source, south, space, spare, spatial, spawn, speak, special, speed, spell, spend, sphere, spice, spider, spike, spin, spirit, split, spoil, sponsor, spoon, sport, spot, spray, spread, spring, spy, square, squeeze, squirrel, stable, stadium, staff, stage, stairs, stamp, stand, start, state, stay, steak, steel, stem, step, stereo, stick, still, sting, stock, stomach, stone, stool, story, stove, strategy, strength, strike, strong, struggle, student, stuff, stumble, style, subject, submit, subway, success, such, sudden, suffer, sugar, suggest, suit, summer, sun, sunny, sunset, super, supply, supreme, sure, surface, surge, surprise, surround, survey, suspect, sustain, swallow, swamp, swap, swarm, swear, sweet, swift, swim, swing, switch, sword, symbol, symptom, syrup, system

T

table, tackle, tag, tail, talent, talk, tank, tape, target, task, taste, tattoo, taxi, teach, team, tell, ten, tenant, tennis, tent, term, test, text, thank, that, theme, then, theory, there, they, thing, this, thought, three, thrive, throw, thumb, thunder, ticket, tide, tiger, tilt, timber, time, tiny, tip, tired, tissue, title, toast, tobacco, today, toddler, toe, together, toilet, token, tomato, tomorrow, tone, tongue, tonight, tool, tooth, top, topic, topple, torch, tornado, tortoise, toss, total, tourist, toward, tower, town, toy, track, trade, traffic, tragic, train, transfer, trap, trash, travel, tray, treat, tree, trend, trial, tribe, trick, trigger, trim, trip, trophy, trouble, truck, true, truly, trumpet, trust, truth, try, tube, tuition, tumble, tuna, tunnel, turkey, turn, turtle, twelve, twenty, twice, twin, twist, two, type, typical

U

ugly, umbrella, unable, unaware, uncle, uncover, under, undo, unfair, unfold, unhappy, uniform, unique, unit, universe, unknown, unlock, until, unusual, unveil, update, upgrade, uphold, upon, upper, upset, urban, urge, usage, use, used, useful, useless, usual, utility

V

vacant, vacuum, vague, valid, valley, valve, van, vanish, vapor, various, vast, vault, vehicle, velvet, vendor, venture, venue, verb, verify, version, very, vessel, veteran, viable, vibrant, vicious, victory, video, view, village, vintage, violin, virtual, virus, visa, visit, visual, vital, vivid, vocal, voice, void, volcano, volume, vote, voyage

W

wage, wagon, wait, walk, wall, walnut, want, warfare, warm, warrior, wash, wasp, waste, water, wave, way, wealth, weapon, wear, weasel, weather, web, wedding, weekend, weird, welcome, west, wet, whale, what, wheat, wheel, when, where, whip, whisper, wide, width, wife, wild, will, win, window, wine, wing, wink, winner, winter, wire, wisdom, wise, wish, witness, wolf, woman, wonder, wood, wool, word, work, world, worry, worth, wrap, wreck, wrestle, wrist, write, wrong

Y

yard, year, yellow, you, young, youth

Z

zebra, zero, zone, zoo

Word selection criteria

The list is designed to be both safe and easy to use. Words were chosen to be long enough and clearly different from each other to reduce errors when entering a recovery seed. Similar-sounding words were also excluded to prevent mistakes when reading a phrase aloud or writing it down.

Key feature: No two words share the same first four letters — for example, "abandon" is the only word beginning with "aban". This means typing the first 4 characters of a word is always enough to identify it uniquely. Even one wrong word can lock you out of your funds, so this design matters.

The science behind mnemonic phrases

Mnemonic phrases are more than random words. They're created from a random number called entropy, which is broken into parts and each part is used to select a word from the BIP39 list. The result looks simple but actually encodes a complex numeric value.

This system turns hard-to-remember data into words that are easier for people to write down and use. More entropy means more possible combinations, making the phrase harder to guess.

Phrase length and security

The most common recovery phrases are either 12 or 24 words long. Longer phrases offer stronger security at the cost of being harder to store safely.

| Phrase length | Entropy bits | Security level |
|---------------|--------------|----------------|
| 12 words | 128 bits | High |
| 24 words | 256 bits | Very high |

More entropy means more possible combinations, which makes it much harder for anyone to guess your recovery phrase.

Checksum verification

The last word of every BIP39 recovery phrase encodes a checksum — a built-in validity check. When you enter a seed phrase, the wallet software uses this to catch any mistakes. That's why it's so important to:

  • Enter the exact number of words
  • Keep them in the correct order
  • Avoid any typos

Even one small error can make the phrase invalid.

Tools for working with BIP39

Several tools exist for managing recovery phrases:

  • Online BIP39 generators — create seed phrases directly in your browser using JavaScript
  • Mnemonic code converters — switch between different mnemonic standards or formats
  • Wallet integration libraries — APIs and libraries for adding BIP39 support to cryptocurrency wallets, such as bip39 in JavaScript and Python
  • Hardware wallets — devices like Trezor and Ledger with BIP39 built in
  • Ian Coleman's BIP39 mnemonic tool — a popular open-source reference implementation

Language support

The BIP39 standard supports multiple languages, making it easier for people worldwide to use cryptocurrency wallets. Supported languages include English, Spanish, French, Italian, Chinese (simplified and traditional), Japanese, Korean, and others via various implementations.

When using a non-English word list, always confirm your wallet supports that language and be mindful of character encoding issues, which can be problematic for non-ASCII scripts.

Alternatives to BIP39

BIP39 is the most widely adopted standard, but alternatives exist:

  • SLIP-0039 — uses Shamir's Secret Sharing for mnemonics, offering different recovery properties
  • Electrum — uses its own proprietary seed format, which is incompatible with BIP39 wallets
  • BIP32 / BIP44 — work alongside BIP39 to help wallets organize and manage multiple accounts or addresses from a single phrase

Frequently asked questions

What is the BIP39 word list used for?

It's used to create human-readable mnemonic phrases that represent binary entropy for generating cryptocurrency wallet seeds. These phrases allow users to back up and restore hierarchical deterministic (HD) wallets. Each word encodes part of the original entropy securely and predictably.

How many words are in the BIP39 list?

There are exactly 2048 unique words in each official BIP39 word list. This size ensures each word represents 11 bits of entropy, making the mnemonic phrase both secure and uniformly decodable.

How does BIP39 work?

BIP39 converts a random binary entropy value into a mnemonic phrase using a word list. This phrase is then hashed with an optional passphrase to derive a seed via PBKDF2. The seed is used to generate a hierarchical deterministic (HD) wallet according to BIP32.

Are there alternatives to the BIP39 word list?

Yes — SLIP-0039 (Shamir's Secret Sharing) and Electrum's proprietary seed format both offer different security or recovery properties. However, BIP39 remains the most widely adopted standard across wallets.

Can I use a non-English BIP39 word list?

Yes, but using a non-English list may cause compatibility issues with some wallets. Always verify your wallet supports the language you choose, and watch for character encoding problems with non-ASCII languages.