pangram

American  

[pan-gruhm, -gram, pang-] / ˈpæn grəm, -græm, ˈpæŋ- /

noun

1. a sentence, verse, etc., that includes all the letters of the alphabet.

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pangram British  

/ ˈpæŋˌɡræm /

noun

1. a sentence incorporating all the letters of the alphabet, such as the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog

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Other Word Forms

• pangrammatic
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of pangram

First recorded in 1870–75; pan- + -gram ¹

Explanation

A pangram is a sentence that uses every single letter in the alphabet at least once. It's much more challenging to come up with short pangrams than longer ones. The most famous English pangram is "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog," a sentence that's been used since the 1800s to test typewriter ribbon and compare different fonts and typefaces. Once you start trying to write your own, you'll soon see how challenging it can be to use every letter. Pangram, coined from the Greek pan-, "all," and gramma, "that which is written, " is also known as a "holoalphabetic sentence."

Example Sentences

The pangram from yesterday’s Spelling Bee was longboat.

From New York Times • May 28, 2023

The pangram from yesterday’s Spelling Bee was haircut.

From New York Times • May 21, 2023

The pangram from yesterday’s Spelling Bee was backfill.

From New York Times • May 9, 2023

The pangram from yesterday’s Spelling Bee was acquaint.

From New York Times • Apr. 30, 2023

The pangram from yesterday’s Spelling Bee was leitmotif.

From New York Times • Apr. 23, 2023