Anagram Checker
Check if two words or phrases are anagrams, with a letter-by-letter comparison.
About this tool
Type two words or phrases, or tap an example, to get an instant yes or no. You'll also see both sets of letters sorted, and a table counting every letter with any mismatch highlighted. Options let you match case, count punctuation, or treat accented letters as different.
What makes two phrases anagrams
An anagram rearranges every letter of one word or phrase to make another. Each letter has to be used exactly as many times as it appears, no more and no fewer. Listen and silent, dormitory and dirty room, the eyes and they see, astronomer and moon starer, and debit card and bad credit are classic examples. To check a pair, the tool removes spaces and punctuation, lowercases everything and strips accents, so cafΓ© counts as cafe and matches face. It then sorts each side's letters alphabetically. If the two sorted strings are identical, the phrases are anagrams. When they aren't, the count table shows exactly where they differ: apple and paper share a, e and two p's, but apple has an extra l and paper an extra r. The same check underpins word games, crossword and cryptic clue solving, puzzle setting, pen-name hunting and classroom spelling activities. A "perfect" anagram uses the same letters and also means something related, such as dormitory and dirty room, which is what makes the famous ones fun. Honest limits: this tests a pair you supply. It doesn't search a dictionary for new anagrams or solve jumbles. The word scramble game, reverse text and the character counter are related.
Frequently asked questions
How do you check if two words are anagrams?
Remove spaces and punctuation, lowercase both, sort their letters alphabetically and compare. If the sorted letters match, they're anagrams.
Are 'listen' and 'silent' anagrams?
Yes. Both use e, i, l, n, s and t once each.
Do spaces and capital letters count?
Not by default. Spaces, punctuation and case are ignored, but you can switch on case-sensitivity or counting punctuation.
Is anything stored?
No. The check runs in your browser and nothing is stored or sent.