Skip to main content

Passphrase Generator

AliasVault can generate memorable and secure passphrases (instead of random character passwords) using the Diceware method. Each passphrase is built by picking random words from a language-specific word list, for example correct-horse-battery-staple.

The word lists (dictionaries) are available in the following languages:

  • 🇬🇧 English (en)
  • 🇳🇱 Dutch (nl)
  • 🇩🇪 German (de)
  • 🇫🇷 French (fr)
  • 🇪🇸 Spanish (es)
  • 🇮🇹 Italian (it)

Your language not listed? Help us add it! And if your language is listed, you can still help by improving the existing word list.

How Diceware works​

Diceware maps every word in a list to a unique sequence of five dice rolls. Because each die has 6 sides, a complete list contains exactly 7776 words (6⁵ = 7776), one word per line, in dice order. Rolling five dice (or generating an equivalent random number) selects one word, and chaining several words together produces a passphrase.

The 7776-word size is what gives each word a known, uniform amount of entropy (about 12.9 bits per word), which is the whole point of Diceware. For this reason every dictionary must contain exactly 7776 words. Not more, not less.

Adding a New Language​

If you’d like to help add a new language to the passphrase generator, you can do so by providing a new Diceware word list:

A good word list:

  • ✅ Contains exactly 7776 unique words, one per line
  • ✅ Uses common, easy-to-spell, easy-to-type words from everyday language
  • ✅ Avoids profanity, slurs, and otherwise offensive or upsetting words
  • ✅ Avoids very long words and confusing near-duplicates where possible

How to submit​

After we receive the list, we'll take care of the technical formatting, attribution, and wiring it into the AliasVault apps.

Improving an Existing Dictionary​

The current dictionaries were collected from a variety of upstream sources (see the attribution file). They are a great starting point, but they are not perfect and improvements are very welcome.

Common reasons to improve a list include:

  • Uncommon or obscure words: words most native speakers wouldn't recognize or use
  • Hard-to-spell or hard-to-type words: these make passphrases harder to type and remember
  • Replacing profanity or offensive words: eliminating words that could be upsetting or inappropriate
  • Inconsistencies: duplicates, accents, or formatting that doesn't fit the rest of the list

How to edit a dictionary​

You can edit an existing word list directly on GitHub.

  1. Open the dictionary for your language:
  2. Click the ✏️ "Edit this file" button in the top-right of the file view. GitHub will ask you to create your own copy (fork) of the project. Click to confirm.
  3. Make your changes.
  4. Click Commit changes and choose Create a new branch and start a pull request.
  5. Submit the pull request. A maintainer will review it and merge it in.

If you'd rather not use GitHub, you can also reach us on Discord or by email, and send us your improved list there.

Keep exactly 7776 words

A Diceware list must always contain exactly 7776 words, since removing a word breaks the entropy math (and the validation tests). So replace or edit words in place, don't add or remove lines. To fix a bad word, swap it for a better one on the same line.

Example dictionaries​

Here are some example wordlists you can view for reference:

These files are plain text, with one word per line, in dice (random) order. Each contains exactly 7776 lines.

Questions?​

If you have any questions, feel free to get in touch: