from itertools import permutations given = '''ABCD CABD ACDB DACB BCDA ACBD ADCB CDAB DABC BCAD CADB CDBA CBAD ABDC ADBC BDCA DCBA BACD BADC BDAC CBDA DBCA DCAB'''.split() allPerms = [''.join(x) for x in permutations(given[0])] missing = list(set(allPerms) - set(given)) # ['DBAC']