Word List

The Yahoo! Word List

The Yahoo! word list covers terms related to communications, technology, branding, and other topics that our U.S. editors have encountered frequently. Following is a healthy sampling of the full Yahoo! word list. (We update the online list quarterly—see what’s new.)

These are the decisions that Yahoo! has come to after years of writing and editing for the Web. You may naturally make different choices and have different entries, but our word list can be useful as a springboard or as an additional reference.

  • a lot
    Two words. Not alot.
  • A.D.
    Note capital letters and periods, no space after the first period. Place before the year. Example: The city of Hippos was destroyed by an earthquake in A.D. 749. For more information, see “Years.”
  • a.m.
    Lowercase, no space after first period. Include a space between the number and a.m. (9 a.m.). See “Time.”
  • ActiveX
    Note capitalization of this Microsoft trademark. Term should be used as an adjective only. Example: ActiveX control, ActiveX technologies.
  • actor
    Use actor for everyone, not actress for female actors. See “Write Gender-Neutral Copy.”
  • add-on (n., adj.), add on (v.)
    Note hyphen when used as a noun or adjective. Two words when used as a verb.
  • address book
  • adware
  • African American (n., adj.)
    Two words, no hyphen. This term may be used interchangeably with black. But note: The term black applies to any black person of African descent; African American applies only when you know for certain that the person is American and not Canadian, Haitian, or another nationality. [Updated to clarify term.]
    Updated on January 08, 2012
  • afterparty (n.)
    One word. A party that takes place after a big event or larger party. Example: She wore one designer’s creation on the red carpet, another’s to the afterparty.
  • aka
    Abbreviation for also known as. Lowercase, no periods, no spaces.
  • all right
    Two words. Not alright. Hyphenate when it precedes the word it modifies. Examples: Do you feel all right? It was an all-right day—not great, but not bad, either.
  • all-star (n., adj.)
    Note hyphen. Capitalize when referring to sports events and teams with all-star as part of the official name: This is his third time being picked as an MLB All-Star. The All-Star Game will air next week. Lowercase when using it generically: The movie features an all-star cast.
  • alright
    attn. Don’t use. See “all right.”
  • alt text
    Short for alternative text, which is text entered into the HTML alt attribute associated with an image on a webpage. See “Alt Text and Image Captions.”
  • American Indian (n., adj.)
    Two words, no hyphen. Can be used interchangeably with Native American where appropriate, but follow the subject’s preference and use a more specific name (such as Lakota Sioux or Navajo) where possible.
  • amid, amidst
    The preferred U.S. word is amid. Amidst is chiefly British and is considered a variant of amid in the United States.
  • among, amongst
    The preferred U.S. word is among. Amongst is chiefly British and is considered a variant of among in the United States.
  • anti-
    Generally, close up this prefix with root words unless the root word starts with an i or a capital letter—if it does, hyphenate. Examples: anti-intelligence, anti-American, antispyware.
  • antivirus
    Lowercase when used generically. When referring to the name of a specific antivirus product, use the manufacturer’s spelling, hyphenation, and capitalization. Example: Our review of antivirus software starts with Symantec’s Norton AntiVirus.
  • app
    Short form of application. Plural: apps. attn. Do not use if there’s any room for confusion.
  • ASCII
    Acronym for American Standard Code for Information Interchange. Acronym is always OK.
  • Asian American (n., adj.)
    Two words, no hyphen.
  • Asian Pacific American (n., adj.)
    Three words, no hyphen. Refers to Americans of Asian and Pacific Islander descent.
  • audio conference
  • auto-renew (adj., v.)
    Note hyphen. Example: The software includes an auto-renew feature. For the verb, it’s preferable to use automatically renew, unless space is very tight and the meaning of auto-renew will be clear from the context. Examples: Your subscription will automatically renew. Check this box to auto-renew.
  • Auto-Tune
    Note capitalization of this Antares Audio Technologies trademark. Use the term as an adjective or as a proper noun, and do not use it as a verb.
    Added on May 12, 2011
  • autumn
    Lowercase the season name. See also “seasons.”
  • avatar
    Lowercase when used generically.

Build your own word list

A word list is an important part of a site’s style guide. It tracks your decisions, helps you enforce them to maintain your site’s voice and editorial standards, and keeps editors from having to make the same kinds of decisions over and over again—possibly coming to contradictory conclusions each time.
Build your own word list