Words are not bad because they're words. They're bad because humans select them predictably.
Entropy is what matters in the end. 30 random characters will have approximately 185.7 bits of entropy. With Diceware and the 7776 entry wordlist, that's 14 words to match it. Although 8-9 words is sufficient for most uses.
Even properly selected, words are bad at "entropy per character". However, in most cases what matters is memorability rather than length. Words are pretty good for that, provided (as you note) you select the words well.
Entropy is what matters in the end. 30 random characters will have approximately 185.7 bits of entropy. With Diceware and the 7776 entry wordlist, that's 14 words to match it. Although 8-9 words is sufficient for most uses.
reply