Kari Lisa Johnson
November 22, 2019
Common Questions

Everyone wants a jawful of jocular vocabulary. Whether you’re playing games (like Scrabble or Words with Friends) or writing for a journal, it’s easy to justify juicy new words. Want to jollify your jargon? Throw some J-words into the mix. J is the 10th letter of the English alphabet, but it comes first in many jovial words! So, if you’re looking for a joyful way to jumpstart your vocabulary, jabber a few words that start with the letter J. We’ve created this list of words for you, organized by the number of letters in each word. Many of these words have more than one meaning. For simplicity, we’ve only listed one definition for each word. Keep in mind, this word list doesn’t contain every single English word that starts with J; however, it’s a useful introduction to this very special letter.

Here are some words that start with J [2-15 letter words]

15-Letter Words

jurisprudential – Adjective | Pertaining to the science of philosophy of law

justifiableness – Noun | The state or quality of being excusable

juxtaglomerular – Adjective | Positioned next to a kidney glomerulus

juxtapositional – Adjective | Pertaining to the comparison of two items placed side-by-side

14-Letter Words

jerrymandering -Verb | Dividing electoral districts so that one political party has an unfair advantage (also spelled gerrymandering)

jingoistically – Adverb | In a manner marked by extreme nationalism and aggressive foreign policy

journalization – Noun | The process of keeping records, especially financial records (also spelled jounalisation)

jurisdictional – Adjective | Pertaining to the power to carry out legal judgements or enforce laws

13-Letter Words

jargonisation – Noun | The act of including jargon in a text or language (also spelled jargonization)

jawdroppingly – Adverb | In a manner that causes surprise or astonishment (also spelled jaw-droppingly)

jellygraphing – Verb | Making copies of writing using a pan of gelatin

justification – Noun | Vindication

12-Letter Words

jactitation – Noun | Jerking, twitching of the body in illness

japonaiserie – Noun | Art made in a Japanese style

judicatorial – Adjective | Pertaining to the administration of justice

junketeering – Verb | Going on extravagant trips at at the government or another’s expense

11-Letter Words

jacklighted – Verb | Hunted by illuminating fish or game with a flashlight

jocoserious – Adjective | Mixing humor and seriousness (British English)

joblessness – Noun | The state of having no job, unemployment

jointedness – Noun | The state or condition of having joints

10-Letter Words

jawcrusher – Noun | A device that crushes rocks between two jaws (also spelled jaw crusher)

jaywalking – Noun | The act of crossing the street in an unsafe or illegal way

johnnycake – Noun | Bread made from cornmeal

jumproping – Verb | Playing a children’s game that involves jumping over a revolving rope

9-Letter Words

jackknife – Noun | A dive in which the diver folds in half and then straightens out before reaching the water

janissary – Noun | A loyal, submissive supporter or soldier (also spelled janizary)

jobseeker – Noun | An unemployed person who is actively searching for work

jockeying – Verb | Maneuvering for position or advantage

8-Letter Words

jacketed – Verb | Dressed in a jacket

jackfish – Noun | A pike, especially a northern pike

jackstay – Noun | A support of iron, wood, or wire along the yard of a ship to which the sails are fastened

jacquard – Noun | Fabric from a distinctive loom, in which the design is woven rather than dyed

jailbird – Noun | A convict or an ex-convict

jalousie – Noun | A window, shade, or door made of overlapping horizontal slats

jamboree – Noun | A crowded celebration or gathering

japonica – Noun | Japanese quince

7-Letter Words

jacamar – Noun | Long-billed tropical birds of the family Galbulidae

jacinth – Noun | An orange semiprecious stone

jackass – Noun | A male donkey

jackdaw – Noun | A black and gray bird found in Eurasia and northern Africa

jacking – Verb | Raising or lifting with a jack

jackleg – Adjective | Unscrupulous, unprofessional

jackpot – Noun | The main prize or cumulative stakes in a game or lottery

jacobin – Noun | An extremest or radical

jaggery – Noun | Unrefined sugar from palm sap

jamming – Verb | Improvising on a musical instrument, along with a group

janitor – Noun | A building’s caretaker or cleaner

javelin – Noun | A light spear thrown in war, hunting, and sport

jejunum – Noun | A section of the small intestine from the duodenum to the ileum

jezebel – Noun | A shameless woman

jonquil – Noun | A Mediterranean daffodil

jukebox – Noun | A coin-operated music player with a list of available songs

6-Letter Words

jabbed – Verb | Stabbed, poked

jabber – Verb | To speak quickly and indistinctly

jabiru – Noun | A black-billed, tropical stork

jacana – Noun | Long-toed shore birds of the family Jacanidae (also spelled jaçana)

jackal – Noun | A pointy-eared, bushy-tailed canid found in Africa and Asia

jacker – Noun | A laborer (British English)

jadish – Adjective | Possessing jade-like qualities

jailer – Noun | A person who imprisons or confines another

jalopy – Noun | An old, broken-down vehicle

japery – Noun | The act of jesting

jarrah – Noun | Eucalyptus marginata found in Australia

jaunty – Adjective | Sprightly, confident (also spelled janty and jantee)

jejune – Adjective | Dull

jujube – Noun | A fruit-flavored gumdrop

jumble – Verb | Mix together into a disorganized pile

5-Letter Words

jabot – Noun | A frilly collar worn by men in the 1700’s

jacal – Noun | A mud-covered, thatch-roofed hut found in Mexico and the southwestern United States

jacky – Noun | Gin (British English)

jager – Noun | A rifleman in German or Austrian armies (also spelled jäger and jaeger)

jaggy – Adjective | Notched

jalap – Noun | A Mexican vine of the morning-glory family, also the drug derived from this plant

jambe – Noun | The vertical sides of a doorway, arch, or window (also spelled jamb)

jammy – Adjective | Lucky (British English)

japan – Verb | To finish with a high gloss

jemmy – Verb | To pry open, as with a crowbar (also spelled jimmy)

jerky – Adjective | Movement characterized by fits and starts

jetty – Noun | A pier or structure that protects a harbor

jiffy – Noun | An instant

jiver – Noun | Someone who dances the jive, a type of swing

joker – Noun | An insignificant fellow

jumbo – Adjective | Extremely large

junky – Adjective | Worn out, of poor quality

4-Letter Words

jarl – Noun | A Scandinavian chieftan or nobleman

jato – Noun | An airplane takeoff assisted by jets

jauk – Verb | To dawdle (Scottish English)

jaup – Noun | A splash of dirty water or mud (Scottish English)

jeer – Verb | To taunt or cry out with derision

jehu – Noun | A cab driver

jeux – Noun | Games

jibb – Verb | To alter course so that the fore-and-aft sail shifts from one side to the other (also spelled jibe, gibe, gybe, and jib)

jimp – Adjective | Slender (British English)

jink – Verb | Move quickly, while shifting direction

jinx – Noun | A spell of bad luck brought on by a person

jivy – Adjective | Jazzy and lively (also spelled jivey)

joky – Adjective | Humorous (also spelled jokey)

joss – Noun | A Chinese idol

jota – Noun | A Spanish folk dance performed to the rhythm of castanets

jouk – Verb | To evade work

jowl – Noun | Lower jaw (formerly spelled jole)

juba – Noun | A dance with complex hand rhythms developed by slaves on southern plantations in the United States

3-Letter Words

jig – Noun | A lively dance in triple meter

jog – Verb | To run or ride at a slow pace

jut – Verb | To project

2-Letter Words

ja – Adverb | Yes

jo – Noun | Sweetheart (Scottish English)

By looking at this list, you may be able to identify some common prefixes. Words that start with “jud” often have something to do with judgement. Words beginning with “juxta” involve nearness. Understanding these linguistic patterns can help you to intuit what a word means, even when you don’t have a dictionary handy.

Use words that start with the letter J to joke with jailbirds and jive with jacobins. Nobody will jeer your judicious word choices. Instead, they’ll be jealous of your jammy triumph over word finders, word jumbles, and crossword puzzles. From jo to jurisprudential, this word list will make you a juggernaut des jeux. Just study these words, and you’ll be jargonizing with jaw-dropping J-words in a jiffy.

Click here for more Scrabble cheat sheets.

Sources:

The Word Counter is a dynamic online tool used for counting words, characters, sentences, paragraphs, and pages in real time, along with spelling and grammar checking.

Kari Lisa Johnson

I’m an award-winning playwright with a penchant for wordplay. After earning a perfect score on the Writing SAT, I worked my way through Brown University by moonlighting as a Kaplan Test Prep tutor. I received a BA with honors in Literary Arts (Playwriting)—which gave me the opportunity to study under Pulitzer Prize-winner Paula Vogel. In my previous roles as new media producer with Rosetta Stone, director of marketing for global ventures with The Juilliard School, and vice president of digital strategy with Up & Coming Media, I helped develop the voice for international brands. From my home office in Maui, Hawaii, I currently work on freelance and ghostwriting projects.

Words That Start With J: Your Scrabble Cheat Sheet

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