diff --git a/bot/bot.py b/bot/bot.py
index 2272cce..2161817 100644
--- a/bot/bot.py
+++ b/bot/bot.py
@@ -159,6 +159,16 @@ async def start_game(self, ctx: commands.Context, difficulty: str = "") -> None:
             await ctx.send("Word list is empty. Cannot start game.")
             return
 
+        scorer = self._game_state.scorer
+        if scorer is not None:
+            words = [w for w in words if scorer.is_in_vocab(w)]
+            if not words:
+                await ctx.send(
+                    "No playable words found for this difficulty "
+                    "(all words are out of vocabulary). Check the word list."
+                )
+                return
+
         target = random.choice(words)
         self._game_state.start_new_game(target, diff)
         await ctx.send(
diff --git a/game/engine.py b/game/engine.py
index bdfbf0b..48d22cf 100644
--- a/game/engine.py
+++ b/game/engine.py
@@ -58,6 +58,25 @@ def is_loaded(self) -> bool:
     # Public API
     # ------------------------------------------------------------------
 
+    def is_in_vocab(self, word: str) -> bool:
+        """Return ``True`` if *word* is present in the model vocabulary.
+
+        The word is cleaned/normalised before lookup, matching the same
+        pre-processing applied by :meth:`score_guess`.
+
+        Args:
+            word: The word to check.
+
+        Returns:
+            ``True`` if the cleaned form of *word* maps to a vocabulary key.
+
+        Raises:
+            RuntimeError: If the model has not been loaded yet.
+        """
+        if self._model is None:
+            raise RuntimeError("Model not loaded. Call load() first.")
+        return self._cleaned_key_map.get(clean_word(word)) is not None
+
     def similarity(self, word_a: str, word_b: str) -> float | None:
         """Return the cosine similarity between two words.
 
diff --git a/game/state.py b/game/state.py
index aa2fcdf..b176778 100644
--- a/game/state.py
+++ b/game/state.py
@@ -28,6 +28,10 @@ def score_guess(self, guess: str, target: str) -> float | None:
         """Return a similarity score in ``[0, 1]``, or ``None`` if unknown."""
         ...
 
+    def is_in_vocab(self, word: str) -> bool:
+        """Return ``True`` if *word* is present in the model vocabulary."""
+        ...
+
 
 @dataclass
 class GuessEntry:
@@ -82,6 +86,11 @@ def __init__(self, scorer: Scorer | None = None) -> None:
         self._history: list[GuessEntry] = []
         self._is_found: bool = False
 
+    @property
+    def scorer(self) -> Scorer | None:
+        """Return the configured scorer, or ``None`` if none was provided."""
+        return self._scorer
+
     # ------------------------------------------------------------------
     # Game lifecycle
     # ------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/tests/test_commands.py b/tests/test_commands.py
index ed2bf94..fc5be3c 100644
--- a/tests/test_commands.py
+++ b/tests/test_commands.py
@@ -748,6 +748,55 @@ async def test_start_confirmation_message_contains_prefix(self):
         assert "!sx" in message
 
 
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# OOV filtering in start_game
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+class _OovAwareScorer:
+    """Scorer that returns None for words not in the valid set (simulates OOV)."""
+
+    def __init__(self, valid_words: set[str]) -> None:
+        self._valid = valid_words
+
+    def score_guess(self, guess: str, target: str) -> float | None:
+        from game.word_utils import clean_word
+        if clean_word(guess) in self._valid:
+            return 0.5
+        return None
+
+    def is_in_vocab(self, word: str) -> bool:
+        from game.word_utils import clean_word
+        return clean_word(word) in self._valid
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+class TestStartOovFiltering:
+    async def test_all_words_oov_sends_error_and_aborts(self):
+        bot = _make_bot()
+        bot._game_state = GameState(scorer=_OovAwareScorer(set()))
+        ctx = _make_ctx(is_broadcaster=True)
+        with patch("bot.bot.load_word_list", return_value=["chat", "licorne", "dragon"]):
+            await _start_fn(bot, ctx)
+        message = ctx.send.call_args[0][0]
+        assert "out of vocabulary" in message.lower()
+        assert bot._game_state.target_word is None
+
+    async def test_partial_oov_starts_game_with_valid_word(self):
+        bot = _make_bot()
+        bot._game_state = GameState(scorer=_OovAwareScorer({"chat", "dragon"}))
+        ctx = _make_ctx(is_broadcaster=True)
+        with patch("bot.bot.load_word_list", return_value=["chat", "licorne", "dragon"]):
+            await _start_fn(bot, ctx)
+        assert bot._game_state.target_word in {"chat", "dragon"}
+
+    async def test_no_scorer_skips_oov_filter(self):
+        bot = _make_bot()
+        ctx = _make_ctx(is_broadcaster=True)
+        with patch("bot.bot.load_word_list", return_value=["chat", "licorne", "dragon"]):
+            await _start_fn(bot, ctx)
+        assert bot._game_state.target_word in {"chat", "licorne", "dragon"}
+
+
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # hint command
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/tests/test_engine.py b/tests/test_engine.py
index 4a972a8..f4ef3cf 100644
--- a/tests/test_engine.py
+++ b/tests/test_engine.py
@@ -59,6 +59,30 @@ def test_score_guess_raises_when_not_loaded(self):
         with pytest.raises(RuntimeError, match="not loaded"):
             engine.score_guess("chat", "chien")
 
+    def test_is_in_vocab_raises_when_not_loaded(self):
+        engine = SemanticEngine(model_path="/nonexistent/path.bin")
+        with pytest.raises(RuntimeError, match="not loaded"):
+            engine.is_in_vocab("chat")
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# SemanticEngine – is_in_vocab
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+class TestSemanticEngineIsInVocab:
+    def test_known_word_returns_true(self):
+        engine = _make_engine()
+        assert engine.is_in_vocab("chat") is True
+
+    def test_unknown_word_returns_false(self):
+        engine = _make_engine()
+        assert engine.is_in_vocab("licorne") is False
+
+    def test_all_vocabulary_words_are_in_vocab(self):
+        engine = _make_engine()
+        for word in ["chat", "chien", "maison", "voiture"]:
+            assert engine.is_in_vocab(word) is True
+
 
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # SemanticEngine – similarity