WordMan contains several built-in word lists, which are described below. The default word list, ENABLE, is suggested for general use, but other word lists have their uses too. Additional word lists can be easily added to WordMan. Simply create a text file with all of the word in it, one per line. Name the file word-list.words.txt and place it in the WordMan program directory. You must restart WordMan after adding or changing a word list. Although using all the word lists may seem attractive at first, in practice the "ENABLE" and "Common Words" lists are most useful and yield the least amount of "junk" to sift through.
The following is a description of the word lists supplied with WordMan.
The ENABLE (Enhanced North American Benchmark LExicon) word list is a comprehensive, thoroughly checked, public domain word list for use with word games and puzzles. I used the ENABLE2K word list with supplements as follows:
signature words: YES
new MW10 words: YES
stale OSPD words: YES
additional OSPD words: YES
words confirmed by 2 dictionaries: YES
additional plurals: YES
OSW and Chambers words: NO
lowercase acronyms: YES
words with no part of speech: NO
inflections of one letter words: NO
upper-case words: YES
case distinctions: NO
uppercase acronyms: NO
remove offensive words: NO
remove words not valid in Scrabble: NO
no word length limit
The primary deficiency of ENABLE for our purposes is that it designed for SCRABBLE use (and other word games), and hence does not have capitalized words or proper names. The "upper-case" words in the supplement that were included helps, but still many proper names are missing. To partially rectify that, I added some additional common proper names:
continents
countries
states
planets
a very few additional common capitalized words
The OSD/Chambers words from the ENABLE2K supplement; i.e. the file ABLE.LST
The merging of 6of12.txt and 2of12inf.txt from the 12dicts word lists. Unlike ENABLE, this list also contains some common acronyms, hyphenated words, and two-word phrases. I removed all words 3 or less letters not present in ENABLE, as these were acronyms, state abbreviations, and similar.
The UK Advanced Cryptics dictionary by Ross Bereford.
Contents of Webster's New International Dictionary, 2nd ed. An unabridged dictionary.
A combined word list with many many words, including some rather dubious entries. A moderately useful last resort, but be aware that some entries are misspelled or otherwise completely bogus. Use with caution.
A list of places from MOBY words, combined with a "places" list from the U.S. Census, and a list of all countries in the world.
A list of names from MOBY words.
A list of multi-word idioms and common phrases.
A list of "words" that have appeared in New York Times crossword puzzle grids. Although many regular words are included, this also includes a lot of two or more word phrases, abbreviations, roman numerals, and other strange things that crossword designers like to put into their puzzles. Use for special purposes only.