anagram

[ an-uh-gram ]

/ ˈæn əˌgræm /

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See synonyms for anagram on Thesaurus.com

noun

a word, phrase, or sentence formed from another by rearranging its letters: “Angel” is an anagram of “glean.”

anagrams, (used with a singular verb) a game in which the players build words by transposing and, often, adding letters.

verb (used with object), an·a·grammed, an·a·gram·ming.

to form (the letters of a text) into a secret message by rearranging them.

to rearrange (the letters of a text) so as to discover a secret message.

QUIZ

CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?

There are grammar debates that never die; and the ones highlighted in the questions in this quiz are sure to rile everyone up once again. Do you know how to answer the questions that cause some of the greatest grammar debates?

Question 1 of 7

Which sentence is correct?

His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of anagram

1580–90; probably <Middle French anagramme<New Latin anagramma.See ana-, -gram¹

OTHER WORDS FROM anagram

an·a·gram·mat·ic

[an-uh-gruh-mat-ik], /ˌæn ə grəˈmæt ɪk/, an·a·gram·mat·i·cal, adjectivean·a·gram·mat·i·cal·ly, adverb

Words nearby anagram

Anaglypta, anagnorisis, anagoge, anagogic, anagogy, anagram, anagrammatize, anagrammer, Anaheim, Anáhuac, Anakim

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use anagram in a sentence

Miles Bron is not exactly an anagram for a certain owner of Twitter, but it’s not all that far off!
Of course Glass Onion is a blast. But it cuts deeper than Knives Out, too.|Alissa Wilkinson|November 23, 2022|Vox
After listing all the four-letter words, Josh looked at all the five-letter words and noted the ones for which removing a letter resulted in an anagram of a four-letter word.
Can You Buy The Right Shirt?|Zach Wissner-Gross|September 23, 2022|FiveThirtyEight
It’s a super-fast and fun way to check your anagram to make sure you haven’t used a letter too many times, or not often enough.
Style Conversational Week 1423: Unnatural acts|Pat Myers|February 11, 2021|Washington Post
In time she realized her odd plant belonged among the extreme parasites in the genus Thismia, described in 1844 and named as an anagram for English anatomist Thomas Smith.
How passion, luck and sweat saved some of North America’s rarest plants|Susan Milius|November 5, 2020|Science News

Rahodeb is an anagram of “Deborah,” the name of Mackey’s longtime wife.
How to Succeed by Being Authentic (Hint: Carefully) (Ep. 438)|Stephen J. Dubner|November 5, 2020|Freakonomics
[From The Daily Beast's own Brian Ries] Hi Ron Paul your name is an anagram for "Our Plan."
Ron Paul Hits Reddit|The Daily Beast|August 22, 2013|DAILY BEAST
And cruder devices certainly deepen the effect of a name; Caliban is a rough anagram of “cannibal,” and Cassio contains an “ass.”
What’s in a Name? Writers and Their Anthroponymy|Anthony Paletta|February 28, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Even the title of the film is an anagram of “Truths Denials.”
Shutter Island: Masterpiece or Dud?|Sean Macaulay|February 25, 2010|DAILY BEAST
Colleville invented an anagram on Cochin's name; with his given names it made up "Cochenille."
Repertory Of The Comedie Humaine, Complete, A -- Z|Anatole Cerfberr and Jules Franois Christophe
Anagram′matism, the practice of making anagrams; Anagram′matist, a maker of anagrams.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D)|Various
In each pan place a group of articles or pictures which will represent in anagram the filling of a pie.
Suppers|Paul Pierce
The master was Captain Roderick Ralestone, although he concealed his name in a sort of an anagram.
Ralestone Luck|Andre Norton
It happening that both had the same name, Catherine, they passed the whole afternoon in forming it into an anagram.
Curiosities of Literature, Vol. 1 (of 3)|Isaac D'Israeli

British Dictionary definitions for anagram

anagram

/ (ˈænəˌɡræm) /

noun

a word or phrase the letters of which can be rearranged into another word or phrase

Derived forms of anagram

anagrammatic (ˌænəɡrəˈmætɪk) or anagrammatical, adjectiveanagrammatically, adverb

Word Origin for anagram

C16: from New Latin anagramma, shortened from Greek anagrammatismos, from anagrammatizein to transpose letters, from ana- + gramma a letter

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

anagram

Origin of anagram

OTHER WORDS FROM anagram

Words nearby anagram

Words related to anagram

How to use anagram in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for anagram

Derived forms of anagram

Word Origin for anagram