5-letter words with A as the 4th letter and W as the 5th letter

The pattern is _ _ _ A W, so every match ends in W and places A immediately before it. Just one of the 14 words ranks among the top 25,000 English words by frequency, and familiar STRAW is a clear example. STRAW is not the highest scorer, though, so expect a compact list with several uncommon entries.

At a glance: the A-W pattern

• The pattern _ _ _ A W has 14 tournament-dictionary matches.
• P begins four matches, more than any other first letter.
• STRAW scores 8 points in Scrabble.
• BYLAW, PSHAW, and PAWAW tie for the top score at 13.
• Wordle accepts three of these words as answers; all 14 are allowed guesses.

Which words score highest?

BYLAW, PSHAW, and PAWAW each score 13 points before board bonuses. MACAW and PAPAW follow at 12, while THRAW scores 11. The less familiar words lead the scoring, so choosing only a word you recognize may leave points behind.

STRAW is the everyday example, but its score is 8, five points below the leaders. Across all 14 matches, the average score is 10.9. P begins four words, S begins three, and B and U begin two each; the remaining first letters are M, R, and T.

A narrow Wordle and dictionary fit

Wordle’s answer list contains three matches, while all 14 fit its allowed-guess pool. That makes the pattern more useful for checking a known ending than for expecting a common solution. The frequency count reinforces the point: only one match is common by the stated word-frequency measure.

Dictionary coverage is not identical: Collins lists 13 matches, compared with 9 in each of ENABLE and NWL2023. The list therefore does not guarantee that every game accepts every entry. For the pattern itself, 5-letter words with A as the 4th letter and W as the 5th letter all share the same final pair, but their first three letters vary.