5-letter words with A as the 2nd letter and D as the 5th letter

The pattern is _A__D: A sits in the second slot, and D closes every match. Familiar examples include BASED, NAMED, SAVED, and FACED, but only 32 matches fall within the common-word cutoff. The total counts words appearing in at least one tournament dictionary, so the list mixes everyday vocabulary with less familiar game entries.

5-letter words with A second and D fifth at a glance

• There are 162 tournament-dictionary words matching the _A__D pattern.
• Only 32 matches meet the common-word cutoff.
• R begins the largest first-letter group, with 16 words.
• Collins includes 158 matches; NWL2023 includes 140.
• FAZED and HAZED lead the scoring examples at 18 points each.

How many of these words are Wordle answers?

Five matching words appear in the Wordle answer list, and all five also occur in a tournament dictionary. The allowed-guess set is much larger at 161 words, so an answer-only search leaves out many playable guesses. BASED and SAVED are recognizable matches, but the answer count does not identify which words they are.

Dictionary totals overlap rather than add up: ENABLE has 132 matches, Collins has 158, and NWL2023 has 140. The combined total is 162 because a word can appear in more than one list. If you are playing a specific version of Scrabble, check its word list before relying on an unfamiliar entry.

Which matching words score the most?

FAZED and HAZED score 18 points apiece, ahead of MAZED at 17. DAZED, WAXED, GAZED, JAWED, FAXED, and VAXED each score 16. These are strong letter-score candidates, though a board bonus square can change the value of any play.

The average score across the matches is 9.4, well below the top entries. That gap is a useful reminder: a rare high-value letter can lift a word's base score, but the pattern alone does not make every play a scoring standout. For a more familiar option, compare choices such as RATED, DATED, or HATED.