Thinking up words that read the same backward and forward, also known as palindromes, can be a fun brain teaser or way to test your creativity and writing skills. We came up with more than 50 palindromes of all sorts to help you get started!
Single-Word Palindromes
Let’s start by highlighting some single-word palindromes, many of which you may not have realized are palindromes and are likely already a part of your everyday vocabulary:
Bib
Civic
Dad
Deed
Dewed
Kayak
Level
Madam
Mom
Noon
Nun
Peep
Pop
Racecar
Radar
Redder
Refer
Rotator
Rotor
Sagas
Solos
Stats
Tenet
Wow
The longest single-word palindrome in English is tattarrattat, which was coined by James Joyce in his groundbreaking novel, Ulysses, to imitate the sound of a knock on a door – also making it an onomatopoeia!
However, the longest single-word palindrome in any language is saippuakivikauppias, the Finnish word for a soapstone trader.
Palindrome Phrases
When a palindrome consists of more than one word, spacing, punctuation, and capitalization are typically ignored. Here are a few examples of multi-word palindromes:
Bird rib
Taco cat
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My gym
Top spot
And some examples of palindrome phrases and sentences:
Don’t nod
I did, did I?
No lemon, no melon
Never odd or even
Step on no pets!
We panic in a pew
He lived as a devil, eh?
Sir, I demand, I am a maid named Iris
Now, sir, a war is won!
Won’t lovers revolt now?
Was it a car or a cat I saw?
Madam, in Eden, I’m Adam
A man, a plan, a canal, Panama!
Eva, can I see bees in a cave?
Palindrome Names, Dates, and Numbers
Palindromes aren’t limited to just words; they can also be numbers (e.g., 1,234,321 or the palindromic prime, 191) and dates (e.g., the recent “twosday” on 22-02-2022) that read the same backward and forward.
There can be names that are palindromes, even some full names:
Anna
Bob
Elle
Eve
Hannah
Orro
Pip
Mark Kram, a sportswriter most known for his boxing coverage
Sara Baras, a Spanish flamenco dancer and choreographer
Stanley Yelnats, the protagonist in Louis Sachar’s novel, Holes
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As long as you don’t have aibohphobia (the unofficial fear of palindromes, which is also a palindrome itself!), why not try creating palindromes of your own? If you’re publishing a piece of creative writing, palindromes are a great way to offer a little extra entertainment for your readers! And once you’ve got a draft ready, we have expert editors ready to help make sure it’s error-free. Upload a free trial document today to learn more!
The Answer
It is a word that forms another word when read in reverse. It’s like a palindrome, but with a different word instead of the same word.
Semordinlap itself is a semordinlap of the word palindromes.
Palindromes are words that are spelled the same backwards and forwards. Examples include level, kayak, and racecar.
A semordnilap or emordinlap is a word that can also be read backwards. but the backwards spelling forms an entirely different word.
A word, phrase, or sentence that has the property of forming another word, phrase, or sentence when its letters are reversed. A semordnilap differs from a palindrome in that the word or phrase resulting from the reversal is different from the original word or phrase.
What does semordnilap mean? – Definitions.net
You’ll notice that the definition above is not from the Oxford or Webster dictionary, or from another more official source. This is because the word is not yet recognized by those traditional dictionaries.
Who coined the word?
As for the term “semordnilap,” which is beginning to win out as a name for the concept, it first appeared in C.C. Bombaugh’s 1961 Oddities and Curiosities of Words and Literature. The originator of the term does not appear to be, however, Dr. Bombaugh, but rather the editor and annotator of the book, Martin Gardner, who included “semordnilap” in one of his annotations. The word is self-referencing in that it demonstrates the concept for which it describes- semordnilap is palindromes spelled backwards.
The Wonderful World of Semordnilaps
How about some examples
Just for fun, rather than listing the examples, I’ll share some examples of these words put into the same sentence.
- My waistband was stressed when I ate all of the desserts.
- I didn’t get repaid when I tried to return the used diapers.
- The longer I live the more evil I become.
- The edam cheese made the lactose-intolerance boy fart.
- The overtired cook would like to sleep, but peels potatoes instead.
- The factory had to retool when the looter stole the machines.
- The boy that looted the machines was a real yob.
- The foreman was mad when the dam broke and flooded the factory.
- The gateman threw away his nametag when his workplace was destroyed.
- When the factory couldn’t deliver the product the company was reviled by its formerly-loyal customers.
I’ll stop now or this story will go on forever.
Asked by: Cecilia Hegmann
Score: 4.9/5
(7 votes)
The most familiar palindromes in English are character-unit palindromes. The characters read the same backward as forward. Some examples of palindromic words are redivider, deified, civic, radar, level, rotor, kayak, reviver, racecar, madam, and refer.
What words Spelt backwards is the same?
A word, phrase or sentence that is the same both backwards and forwards is called a palindrome.
What is the longest palindrome word?
The longest known palindromic word is saippuakivikauppias (19 letters), which is Finnish for a dealer in lye (caustic soda). A palindrome is a word or phrase where the letters read backwards, give the same word or phrase, eg: the phrase ‘Madam I’m Adam’, with the reply ‘Eve’.
Is deified a palindrome?
D-E-I-F-I-E-D. This palindrome word is the past tense of the word “defy” which means “to make a god.” H-A-N-N-A-H. A name meaning “glory!”
What is the most famous palindrome?
Some well-known English palindromes are, «Able was I ere I saw Elba» (1848), «A man, a plan, a canal – Panama» (1948), «Madam, I’m Adam» (1861), and «Never odd or even». English palindromes of notable length include mathematician Peter Hilton’s «Doc, note: I dissent. A fast never prevents a fatness.
23 related questions found
What is the longest sentence that is spelled the same backwards?
The longest palindrome in English is often considered tattarrattat, coined by James Joyce in his 1922 Ulysses to imitate the sound of a knock on the door. That’s 12 letters.
What is a palindrome in English?
What is a palindrome? According to The Oxford English Dictionary the word is based on Greek root words meaning “back” and “running.” Palindromes are words or phrases that read the same backward and forward, letter for letter, number for number, or word for word.
What is the fear of palindromes called?
Aibohphobia is the (unofficial) fear of palindromes, which are words that read the same front and back and, you guessed it, the word itself is a palindrome.
What is the longest disease name?
1 Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis (forty-five letters) is lung disease caused by the inhalation of silica or quartz dust.
What is heaven spelled backwards?
Nevaeh is «Heaven» spelled backward. The name has hit a cultural nerve with its religious overtones and creative twist.
What does it mean when you say things backwards?
Inversion (also known as anastrophe) is the reversing of word order.
Which vehicle is spelled the same forwards and backwards?
Everyone has heard of the famous palindrome example of “racecar,” which is spelled the same backwards and forwards.
Which word takes 3 hours to say?
You will be surprised to know that the longest word in English has 1, 89,819 letters and it will take you three and a half hours to pronounce it correctly. This is a chemical name of titin, the largest known protein.
What is the shortest word?
Eunoia, at six letters long, is the shortest word in the English language that contains all five main vowels. Seven letter words with this property include adoulie, douleia, eucosia, eulogia, eunomia, eutopia, miaoued, moineau, sequoia, and suoidea. (The scientific name iouea is a genus of Cretaceous fossil sponges.)
What word takes 3 hours to say full word?
That’s called: Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia and it’s one of the longest words in the dictionary.
What is the #1 phobia?
Overall, fear of public speaking is America’s biggest phobia — 25.3 percent say they fear speaking in front of a crowd. Clowns (7.6 percent feared) are officially scarier than ghosts (7.3 percent), but zombies are scarier than both (8.9 percent).
What is Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia?
Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia is one of the longest words in the dictionary — and, in an ironic twist, is the name for a fear of long words. Sesquipedalophobia is another term for the phobia.
What is the rarest fear?
Rare and Uncommon Phobias
- Ablutophobia | Fear of bathing. …
- Arachibutyrophobia | Fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth. …
- Arithmophobia | Fear of math. …
- Chirophobia | Fear of hands. …
- Chloephobia | Fear of newspapers. …
- Globophobia (Fear of balloons) …
- Omphalophobia | Fear of Umbilicus (Bello Buttons)
What is palindrome example?
A palindrome is a word, phrase, or sentence reads the same backward or forward—such as Madam, I’m Adam. Semordnilaps (the word palindromes in reverse) are words that spell other words when spelled backwards (for example, star/rats, drawer/reward).
How many palindromes are there?
You can conclude that there are 900 palindromes withfive and 900 palindromes with six digits. You have 9+9+90+90+900+900 = 1998 palindromes up to one million. That’s 0,1998 %. About every 500th number is a palindrome.
Is palindrome a number?
A palindromic number (also known as a numeral palindrome or a numeric palindrome) is a number (such as 16461) that remains the same when its digits are reversed. In other words, it has reflectional symmetry across a vertical axis. … The palindromic primes are 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 101, 131, 151, …
What does Tattarrattat mean?
The longest palindrome defined in the OED is ‘tattarrattat’, meaning ‘a knock at the door‘.
What names are palindromes?
There are lots of palindromic given names, for example ADA, ANNA, BOB, ELLE, EVE, HANNAH and OTTO. More unusual ones include ABBA, AOITOA, ESEESE, LERREL, NEVEN, ODDO and VYV. Palindromic surnames are just as plentiful: CIRIC, EDE, IYAYI, MASSAM, RETTER, SILLIS, YELLEY.
What is it called when the date is the same backwards and forwards?
A palindrome is a phrase, a word or a set of numbers that reads the same forward and backward. Palindrome weeks only occur in countries that write dates in month-day-year order. And the year can be two digits or four digits and qualify as a palindrome.
What is titin full name?
So what’s the word? Wikipedia’s says that it’s «Methionylthreonylthreonylglutaminylarginyl … isoleucine» (ellipses necessary), which is the «chemical name of titin, the largest known protein.» Also, there’s some dispute about whether this is really a word.
I’m thinking of getting a SONOS sound system and have realised that it’s an example of a special class of word. It’s a palindrome, it’s a rotational ambigram and it is also a word that is the same upside down.
Any palindrome that uses, exclusively, H I N O S X Z (also some versions of lower case f and l) will share this characteristic .
Is there a special name for this ?
tchrist♦
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asked Jan 28, 2015 at 14:04
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Perhaps «palindromic rotational ambigram»? I just stuck «palindromic» on the front of «rotational ambigram».
I don’t think there’s a term with fewer than three words to describe what you want.
(I’m not sure the distinction from «rotational ambigram» is necessary, as most rotational ambigrams seem to be palindromic—I’m guessing designing those is just easier—but it’s your language. More concise is okay, and more words are okay.)
answered Feb 7, 2015 at 19:53
Mathieu K.Mathieu K.
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What’s a palindrome? A palindrome is a word, number, or phrase that reads the same backward and forward. Find out what words are spelled the same backward.
| aha | gag | noon | rotavator |
| alula | gig | nun | rotor |
| bib | hah | pap | sagas |
| boob | heh | peep | sees |
| civic | huh | pip | sexes |
| dad | kayak | pop | solos |
| deed | kook | pup | SOS |
| deified | lemel | racecar | stats |
| dewed | level | radar | tat |
| did | ma’am | redder | tenet |
| dud | madam | refer | terret |
| eke | minim | reifier | tit |
| eve | mom | repaper | TNT |
| ewe | murdrum | reviver | tot |
| eye | non | rotator | wow |
Last Updated: October 7, 2022 | Author: John Watkins
What words spelled the same backwards?
The most familiar palindromes in English are character-unit palindromes. The characters read the same backward as forward. Some examples of palindromic words are redivider, deified, civic, radar, level, rotor, kayak, reviver, racecar, madam, and refer.
What 7 letter word is a palindrome?
Palindromic Words & Phrases – 7 letters
| Results | Instant Lookup |
|---|---|
| Repaper | W O D |
| Reviver | W O D |
| Rotator | W O D |
What are 3 examples of a palindrome?
Common palindromic—that’s the adjective for palindrome—words include: noon, civic, racecar, level, and mom. The Finnish word for “soapstone vendor” is supposedly the longest palindrome in everyday use: saippuakivikauppias.
What is the longest palindrome word?
The longest known palindromic word is saippuakivikauppias (19 letters), which is Finnish for a dealer in lye (caustic soda). A palindrome is a word or phrase where the letters read backwards, give the same word or phrase, eg: the phrase ‘Madam I’m Adam’, with the reply ‘Eve’.
What is the most famous palindrome?
Perhaps the most commonly referenced English palindrome is: A man, a plan, a canal: Panama! American comedian and writer, Demetri Martin, recently composed the following amazing palindrome poem: Dammit I’m mad.
Was that a cat I saw backwards?
Was It A Cat I Saw? (Nope: It Was A Palindrome) : NPR. Was It A Cat I Saw? (Nope: It Was A Palindrome) “Madam, I’m Adam!” is child’s play. Master palindromist Barry Duncan creates works of art that are paragraphs long and read the same forward and backward.
What is a Semordnilap word?
A palindrome is a word or phrase that is the same forwards and backwards, but a semordnilap (“palindromes” backwards) is a word that becomes a different word when read backwards. Get it, smug gums? Heard in Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Facebook. Twitter.
What is a god roll palindrome?
The Palindrome PvP god roll
In our PvE god roll, that translates to a magazine that boosts mag size or reload speed (depending on preference) and a barrel that boosts stability, range, or handling to make the gun more comfortable.
What is a fear of palindrome?
aibohphobia (uncountable) (humorous, nonce word) An irrational fear of palindromes.
Was that a cat I saw backwards?
Was It A Cat I Saw? (Nope: It Was A Palindrome) : NPR. Was It A Cat I Saw? (Nope: It Was A Palindrome) “Madam, I’m Adam!” is child’s play. Master palindromist Barry Duncan creates works of art that are paragraphs long and read the same forward and backward.
What is the longest palindromic sentence?
Nevertheless, Mark Saltveit, editor of The Palindromist, was willing to declare it “the world’s longest palindromic sentence,” or the longest parody of a favorite old chestnut: “A man, a plan, a canal—Panama!”
What is a palindrome baby?
Palindrome baby names are spelled the same backwards and forwards, so all your symmetrical dreams can (and will) come true.
Was it a car or a cat I?
“Was it a car or a cat I saw?” is a palindromic sentence. Neglecting the punctuation, it can be read the same backward.
What sentence is a palindrome?
What is a palindrome? Words, phrases and even numbers can be palindromes and it’s something that reads the same forwards and backwards. Like 11:11 or, one of the most famous examples, Taco Cat. Ignoring punctuation, if you reverse the order of the letters in “taco cat,” it will still say “taco cat.” Pretty nifty, huh?
A palindrome is a word or a phrase that reads the same backward as forward. Words in themselves are fun and amusing let alone if they can read from both ends. The fact that these words are palindromes is totally coincidental, but a little bit of creativity went into forming the latter part of the palindrome phrases you’ll find at the bottom. We strongly encourage you to leave in a comment of other palindromes you may know and that we left out. Have a great read 🙂
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Let’s kick it up a notch
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It’s a Palindrome. Hope this helps!
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