A word clock hides the time in a grid of letters. At any moment a handful of letters light to spell out a sentence, such as IT IS TWENTY FIVE TO NINE, while the rest stay dark. The grid is laid out so that every phrase can be made from words reading left to right.
It tells the time to the nearest five minutes — the four dots in the corners of the panel light for each extra minute — which is how people talk about time anyway. It only shows the time of day, so there are no stopwatch or countdown modes on this face. Choose another face for those.
Where it's useful
- A calm, readable clock for a living room or office screen
- A way to read the time without digits
- A design piece for a site or a second display
- Practice with time phrases for language learners
Three ways to use it
- Clock — the time of day in your time zone or any city, in 12- or 24-hour form.
This face shows the time of day only; for a stopwatch or countdown pick another face from the gallery. Every face runs entirely in your browser, remembers your settings on this device, and can be embedded on your own page.
Similar faces
Questions
How accurate is a word clock?
To the nearest five minutes in words. The four corner dots show the extra one to four minutes.
Does it have a stopwatch mode?
No. A word clock only makes sense for the time of day.
Is the grid in English only?
This one is in English.