Semordnilaps: Words That Spell Other Words Backwards

A palindrome reads the same in both directions. A semordnilap does something sneakier: read it backwards and you get a completely different, perfectly good word. STRESSED becomes DESSERTS. Around here, we consider that the finest trick in the whole English barn.

What's a semordnilap?

A semordnilap is a word whose letter-by-letter reversal spells a different real word. And the name itself is the joke: "semordnilap" is simply "palindromes" spelled backwards — P-A-L-I-N-D-R-O-M-E-S run tail-first gives you S-E-M-O-R-D-N-I-L-A-P. Word lovers have also called these "reversible words," "anadromes," and "heteropalindromes," but semordnilap is the name that stuck, probably because it demonstrates itself.

The crown jewel of the category is eight letters long:

Other beauties: DRAWER flips to REWARD, DIAPER flips to REPAID, and GATEMAN flips to NAMETAG. Some pairs even feel like tiny stories. LIVED backwards is DEVIL. STRAW backwards is WARTS. DENIM backwards is MINED, which is roughly how your knees feel after a day in either one.

Why they're a gift in a backwards-spelling game

When the timer's running and the word on the sign is STOP, you don't have to reverse anything letter by letter. You just have to know the partner word. The answer is POTS — a word your fingers already know how to type as one smooth motion, the same way they type any familiar word. That's dramatically faster than picking your way through a reversal one letter at a time.

Every semordnilap pair you memorize converts a slow, careful reversal into a single burst of ordinary typing. On a four- or five-letter word, that can be the difference between full payout and watching the money window slam shut.

Why they're also a trap

Here's the trouble: your fingers have opinions. When the answer you're typing is itself a real word, muscle memory wants to finish it — and sometimes it finishes the wrong one. You see DEVIL on the sign, you start typing L-I-V-E... and your hand, recognizing the shape of a word it's typed a thousand times, sails right on to whatever it expects next. Worse, sometimes the word on the sign is so familiar that you absent-mindedly type it — forwards — because both directions feel legitimate. With a made-up reversal like NOGAW (from WAGON), your brain stays alert because nothing about it feels like a word. With a semordnilap, the guardrails come off.

Two habits keep you out of the ditch:

• Name the target first. Before you touch a key, say the partner word in your head: "DRAWER... that's REWARD." Then type REWARD as a word. Deciding first, typing second beats deciding while typing every time.
• Check your last letter. A semordnilap's final letter is the sign-word's first letter. One quick glance — did my answer end with the letter the sign starts with? — catches nearly every autocomplete slip.

A practice list, grouped by length

Drill these until seeing one side of a pair instantly calls up the other. Every pair below is a true letter-for-letter reversal — check any of them yourself, back to front.

Notice how many pairs start with S on one side — that's no accident. English loves to end words in S (plurals) and loves consonant clusters like ST- and SW- at the front, so reversals line up more often than you'd guess. A useful reflex: any short word ending in S deserves a quick second look, because its reversal has a decent chance of being real.

Spotting new pairs in the wild

Keep in mind how rare these are: reverse most English words and you get plain gibberish. WORD backwards is DROW, GAME backwards is EMAG — nothing there. That rarity is what makes semordnilaps collectible, and collecting them is a fine idle-time hobby. Whenever a short word catches your eye — on a feed sack, a road sign, a cereal box — run it backwards in your head and see if anything real falls out. Words ending in S, D, R, or N are your best prospects, since so many English words begin with those letters' reversal partners.

Some finds are famous enough to have lore of their own: DELIVER backwards is REVILED, a full seven-letter pair, and the truly dedicated point out that ANIMAL backwards is LAMINA — a real (if bookish) word meaning a thin layer. Every pair you discover on your own sticks in memory far better than one you read on a list, which means your hobby quietly doubles as game training.

Make them work for you

Semordnilaps reward exactly one thing: preparation. Unlike raw reversal skill, which builds slowly, a memorized pair pays off the very next time it appears. Learn the four-letter pairs first — they show up earliest and most often — then work up the list as the game's words grow longer, level by level. And when a pair does land mid-game, enjoy the small thrill of typing DESSERTS while everybody else is still stressed.

Keep going

If reversible words charm you, meet their perfectly symmetrical cousins in our palindromes guide, learn how everyday English letter patterns behave in reverse, sharpen up with five-letter backwards practice, and pick up game-day pointers on the Tips & Strategy page.