5-Letter Words: Full List by Letter, Vowels and Doubles

2026-10-29

These are the 5-letter words you are most likely to need: a full list grouped by first letter, then the words that are heavy in vowels, the words that use one letter twice, and a table of the letters that turn up most. Use it to get unstuck on a word puzzle, to plan your guesses in a hidden-word game, or simply to browse.

The list below holds 1155 common five-letter words from the game’s English word list — every one of them can be the hidden word of a round.

5-letter words by first letter

Scan the list by the letter a word starts with; the number in brackets is how many words begin with that letter. Every entry is an ordinary, everyday word, so there are no proper nouns to wade through.

A (62): abbey, abuse, acorn, acrid, actor, adapt, admit, adopt, adore, adult, agent, agile, agony, agree, ahead, alarm, album, alert, alien, alike, alive, alley, allow, alloy, alone, along, altar, alter, amaze, amber, ample, angel, anger, angle, angry, ankle, annex, anvil, apart, apple, apply, apron, arbor, arena, argue, arise, armor, aroma, array, arrow, aside, asset, atlas, atone, attic, audio, audit, avoid, awake, award, aware, azure

B (81): bacon, badge, bagel, banjo, barge, baron, basic, basil, basin, basis, batch, beach, beard, beast, beech, begin, being, belly, bench, berry, birch, birth, bison, black, blade, blame, bland, blank, blast, blaze, bleak, bleed, blend, bless, blind, blink, block, blond, blood, bloom, blunt, blush, board, boast, bonus, boost, booth, boxer, brace, braid, brain, brake, brand, brass, brave, brawl, bread, break, breed, brick, bride, brief, brine, bring, brink, brisk, broad, brook, broom, brown, brush, brute, buddy, bugle, build, bulky, bully, bunch, bunny, burst, buyer

C (110): cabin, cable, cache, cadet, camel, canal, candy, canoe, cargo, carol, carry, carve, catch, cause, cedar, chain, chair, chalk, champ, chant, chaos, charm, chart, chase, cheap, cheat, check, cheek, cheer, chess, chest, chief, child, chili, chill, chime, chirp, choir, chord, chore, chunk, cider, cigar, civic, civil, claim, clamp, clash, clasp, class, clean, clear, clerk, click, cliff, climb, cling, cloak, clock, clone, close, cloth, cloud, clove, clown, coach, coast, cobra, cocoa, color, comet, comic, comma, coral, couch, cough, count, court, cover, crack, craft, cramp, crane, crank, crash, crate, crave, crawl, crazy, cream, creek, creep, crest, crime, crisp, croak, cross, crowd, crown, cruel, crumb, crush, crust, crypt, cubic, cumin, curry, curse, curve, cycle

D (47): daily, dairy, daisy, dance, death, debit, debut, decay, decor, delay, demon, denim, dense, depot, depth, devil, diary, digit, diner, dirty, disco, ditch, diver, dizzy, dodge, donor, doubt, dough, dozen, draft, drain, drama, drape, dream, dress, drift, drill, drink, drive, drone, drown, dryer, dummy, dusty, duvet, dwarf, dwell

E (36): eager, eagle, early, earth, easel, ebony, eerie, eight, eject, elbow, elder, elect, elite, email, ember, empty, enact, enemy, enjoy, enter, entry, envoy, epoch, equal, equip, erase, erode, error, essay, evade, event, every, exact, exile, exist, extra

F (63): fable, faint, fairy, faith, false, fancy, fatal, fault, feast, fence, ferry, fetch, fever, fiber, field, fiery, fifth, fifty, fight, filth, final, finch, first, flair, flake, flame, flare, flash, flask, fleet, flesh, fling, flint, flirt, float, flock, flood, floor, floss, flour, fluff, fluid, flush, flute, focus, foggy, force, forge, forty, forum, foyer, frail, frame, frank, fraud, freak, fresh, frost, frown, fruit, fudge, funny, fuzzy

G (59): gauge, gauze, gecko, genie, genre, ghost, giant, giddy, gland, glare, glass, glaze, gleam, glide, globe, gloom, glory, gloss, glove, gnome, goose, gorge, gourd, grace, grade, grain, grand, grant, grape, graph, grasp, grass, grate, grave, gravy, graze, great, greed, green, greet, grief, grill, grind, groan, groom, gross, group, grove, growl, gruff, grunt, guard, guava, guess, guest, guide, guild, guilt, gummy

H (43): habit, hairy, halve, handy, happy, hardy, harsh, haste, hasty, hatch, haunt, haven, hazel, heart, heave, heavy, hedge, hefty, hello, hence, heron, hinge, hippo, hitch, hoard, hobby, hoist, holly, honey, honor, horde, horse, hotel, hound, house, hover, human, humid, humor, hunch, hurry, husky, hyena

I (15): icing, ideal, igloo, image, imply, inbox, index, infer, inlet, inner, input, intro, irony, issue, ivory

J (11): jazzy, jelly, jerky, jewel, joint, joker, jolly, judge, juice, juicy, jumpy

K (10): karma, kayak, khaki, kiosk, knack, knead, kneel, knife, knock, koala

L (45): label, labor, lance, lapse, large, larva, laser, latch, later, latte, laugh, layer, leafy, learn, lease, least, leave, ledge, legal, lemon, lemur, level, lever, light, lilac, limit, linen, liner, liter, liver, llama, lobby, local, lodge, lofty, logic, loose, lotus, lover, lower, loyal, lucky, lunar, lunch, lyric

M (55): magic, maize, major, maker, manga, mango, manor, maple, marry, marsh, mason, match, mayor, medal, media, medic, melon, mercy, merge, merit, merry, metal, meter, might, mince, minor, minty, minus, mixer, mocha, model, moist, molar, money, month, moody, moose, moral, morph, mossy, motel, motif, motor, motto, mound, mount, mouse, mouth, movie, muddy, mulch, mummy, mural, murky, music

N (20): nanny, nasty, nerve, never, niche, niece, night, ninja, ninth, noble, noise, noisy, nomad, north, notch, novel, nudge, nurse, nutty, nylon

O (19): oasis, occur, ocean, offer, often, olive, onion, opera, optic, orbit, order, organ, other, otter, ought, ounce, outer, owner, ozone

P (73): paint, panel, panic, paper, parka, party, pasta, paste, patch, patio, pause, peace, peach, pearl, pecan, pedal, penny, perch, perky, petal, petty, phase, phone, photo, piano, picky, piece, pilot, pinch, pinto, pivot, pixel, pizza, place, plaid, plain, plane, plank, plant, plate, plaza, plead, plume, plump, plush, point, poker, polar, polka, porch, pouch, pound, power, prawn, press, price, pride, prime, print, prior, prize, proof, prose, proud, prove, prune, puffy, pulse, punch, pupil, puppy, purge, purse

Q (14): quail, quake, quart, queen, query, quest, queue, quick, quiet, quilt, quirk, quite, quota, quote

R (55): racer, radar, radio, rainy, raise, rally, ranch, range, rapid, ratio, raven, razor, reach, react, ready, realm, rebel, recap, refer, regal, reign, relax, relay, relic, renew, repay, reply, reset, resin, retro, rhyme, rider, ridge, rifle, right, rigid, rinse, risky, rival, river, roast, robin, robot, rocky, rogue, roomy, roost, rough, round, route, royal, rugby, ruler, rural, rusty

S (183): salad, salon, salsa, sandy, satin, sauce, sauna, savor, scale, scalp, scare, scarf, scary, scene, scent, scold, scone, scoop, scope, score, scout, scrap, screw, scrub, seize, sense, serum, serve, seven, sewer, shack, shade, shaft, shake, shaky, shame, shape, share, shark, sharp, shave, shawl, sheep, sheet, shelf, shell, shift, shine, shiny, shirt, shock, shoot, shore, short, shout, shred, shrub, shrug, siege, sight, silky, silly, since, sixth, sixty, skate, skill, skirt, skull, skunk, slack, slang, slant, slate, sleek, sleep, slice, slick, slide, sling, slope, sloth, slump, small, smart, smash, smell, smile, smoke, snack, snail, snake, sneak, sniff, snore, snout, snowy, sober, solar, solid, solve, sorry, sound, south, space, spade, spare, spark, speak, speed, spell, spend, spice, spike, spill, spine, split, spoil, spoon, spore, sport, spray, squad, stack, staff, stage, stain, stair, stake, stale, stalk, stall, stamp, stand, stare, start, state, steak, steal, steam, steel, steep, steer, stern, stick, stiff, still, sting, stink, stock, stomp, stone, stool, store, storm, story, stove, strap, straw, stray, strip, study, stuff, stump, stunt, style, suede, sugar, suite, sunny, super, surge, swamp, swarm, swear, sweat, sweep, sweet, swift, swing, swirl, sword, syrup

T (71): table, tango, tapir, taste, teach, tempo, tense, tenth, thank, theft, theme, thick, thief, thigh, thing, think, thorn, three, throw, thumb, thyme, tiara, tidal, tiger, tight, timer, timid, tired, title, toast, today, token, tonic, tooth, topaz, topic, torch, torso, total, totem, touch, tough, towel, tower, toxic, trace, track, trade, trail, train, trait, trash, treat, trend, trial, tribe, trick, troll, troop, trout, truce, truck, truly, trunk, trust, truth, tulip, tunic, tutor, twice, twist

U (14): udder, ultra, uncle, under, union, unite, unity, until, upper, upset, urban, usage, usual, utter

V (25): vague, valid, value, valve, vapor, vault, vegan, venom, venue, verse, video, vigor, vinyl, viper, viral, virus, visit, visor, vista, vital, vivid, vocal, vodka, voice, voter

W (37): wafer, wager, wagon, waist, waltz, waste, watch, water, weary, weave, wedge, weigh, weird, whale, wheat, wheel, while, whirl, whisk, white, whole, widen, widow, width, wince, windy, woody, world, worry, worse, worth, wound, wrath, wreck, wrist, write, wrong

Y (6): yacht, yeast, yield, yodel, young, youth

Z (1): zebra

5-letter words with lots of vowels

Vowels sit in nearly every word, so a word packed with them is the fastest way to find out which vowels the hidden word contains. In a word-guessing game a vowel-heavy first guess settles several vowels at once, leaving mostly consonants to pin down next. The trade-off is that it says little about those consonants, so follow it with a consonant-rich guess.

104 words have three or more vowels: abuse, agile, alien, alive, arena, aroma, atone, avoid, aware, cause, eagle, eerie, equal, erase, exile, genie, guava, house, igloo, juice, leave, maize, mouse, niece, ocean, opera, outer, pause, piano, quake, quiet, quota, raise, rogue, sauna, suede, tiara, usage, vague, video

5-letter words with a repeated letter

Words that use one letter twice are the classic trap. Early clues cannot tell you whether the hidden word holds that letter once or twice, and a guess that repeats a letter often comes back with a confusing mix of colours. In Word Duel, the game this list comes from, a repeated letter is always coloured by the same two steps:

1. Exact hits first. Every letter in precisely the right position turns green before anything else is decided.
2. Then one clue per remaining copy. Each copy of a letter still unmatched in the hidden word can mark at most one letter of your guess amber (right letter, wrong place), working from left to right. Any further copy in your guess turns grey.

So a grey tile next to a green or amber tile of the same letter does not mean the letter is absent; it means the hidden word has no further copy. In that row, add up the green and amber tiles of the letter and you know exactly how many copies the hidden word holds. The on-screen keyboard helps too: it shows each letter in the strongest colour it has earned, so a grey duplicate never hides an amber clue.

333 words (29% of the list) use one letter twice. A spread from across the whole list: abbey, apart, attic, bloom, canal, class, creek, drama, elder, event, floss, gloss, guava, hitch, jelly, label, linen, moody, ninja, paper, prior, rebel, ruler, sewer, sleep, stall, suede, tiara, troll, utter

The most common letters in 5-letter words

The table counts the ten letters that appear in the most words of the list. For each one it shows how many words contain the letter anywhere, and how many words start with it.

The two columns answer different questions. Words containing it is a letter’s test value: a letter found in many words is likely to earn a green or amber tile, so it belongs in an early guess. Words starting with it describes openings: a big number is a crowded first letter with many candidates, a small number means that once you have that letter in first place only a few words are left. A letter can be common inside words yet rare at the front.

How to find a 5-letter word when you are stuck

• Write the pattern out. Draw five blanks, fill in the green letters, then run down the list above for the right first letter and cross out everything that does not fit.
• Move amber letters. Amber says the letter is in the word but not in that slot, so try it in a different position every time rather than repeating the same spot.
• Test a common ending. Many words share the same last letters. Check the ending first, then build the front of the word around it.
• Change one letter at a time, but not forever. With four letters green and one slot open, trying candidates one by one can eat every guess. The game does not force you to reuse earlier clues, so a guess that mixes several competing letters can settle it in one go.
• Leave grey letters alone. A letter that has come back grey every time it appeared is out for good. The keyboard dims it, though you can still type it.
• Skip rare forms. The hidden word is always drawn from the common list on this page. Rarer word forms are accepted as guesses but never turn out to be the answer.

If you are unsure a word is accepted, just type it: a word the game does not know is refused and costs you no guess. For opening words backed by measurements, read the best starting words for a 5-letter word game, and for the thinking behind later guesses see word-guessing game strategy tips.

Put the list to work

The words above come from the English word list of Word Duel, a hidden-word guessing game with colour clues. Everyone at the table hunts the same hidden five-letter word at the same moment, with six guesses each. Every guess comes back green, amber or grey, and fewer guesses and a faster solve score more: 60 points for a one-guess solve, down to 10 for six, plus a bonus for the first three players to crack it. A match runs one, three or five rounds, each on a clock of 90 seconds to three minutes, and the word language is a room option separate from the language of the site.

The fastest way to learn these words is to meet them under a clock. Pick a few openers from the lists above, keep the repeated-letter rule in mind, and play a round at Word Duel. For the full flow of a match, read how to play Word Duel.

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