What Are Anagrams?

Definition of "Anagram"

Anagrams are words that share the same letters as each other.

Easy Examples of Anagrams

• stop, tops, opts, pots, and spot
• stool and tools
• secure and rescue

Examples of Funny Anagrams

Anagrams are usually created just for fun. They are most effective when their meanings are associated or even the same. For example:

• Dormitory and Dirty Room
• Elvis and Lives
• The country side and No City Dust Here
• Heavy Rain and Hire a Navy
• Eleven plus two and Twelve plus one

An Example of a Long and Clever Anagram

If there's a better anagram than this one by Cory Calhoun, then I haven't seen it:

"To be or not to be: that is the question, whether tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune."

and

"In one of the Bard's best-thought-of tragedies, our insistent hero, Hamlet, queries on two fronts about how life turns rotten."

A Widget to Build Anagrams

The Longest Single-Word Anagrams

Here are the longest single-word anagrams:

• hydroxydeoxycorticosterones and hydroxydesoxycorticosterone
• conversationalists and conservationalists
(This the longest non-scientific single-word anagram.)

Why Anagrams Are Important

Anagrams are usually created just for fun, but, for teachers, creating anagrams can be a useful way to encourage students to play with letters and words.

Anagrams can also have another, more business-like use though as they can make a message more impactful and memorable. Consider these anagrams:

• The country side and no city dust here
• Heavy rain and Hire a navy

The first anagram could help with making an anti-pollution message more impactful and memorable, while the second could help in a bid to improve flood defences. (You might have to point out that they're anagrams though.)

Key Point