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5-letter words with C as the 2nd letter and E as the 3rd letter

10 five-letter words have C as the 2nd letter and E as the 3rd, from familiar SCENE and OCEAN to less common entries.

10 wordsTop pick SCENEHighest score ACERB 9

3 of 10 are everyday words (30%). A friendly list: most players will know the top picks.

  • 3rd letter
  • A
  • B
  • C
  • D
  • E
  • F
  • G
  • H
  • I
  • J
  • K
  • L
  • M
  • N
  • O
  • P
  • Q
  • R
  • S
  • T
  • U
  • V
  • W
  • X
  • Y
  • Z

With C in 2nd place, A is the most common 3rd letter (35 words). The bar under each letter shows the size of its list.

  • Length
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15

Best words to play first 10 · most-used first

  • SCENE7
  • OCEAN7
  • SCENT7
  • SCENA7
  • ICERS7
  • ACERS7
  • ACERB9
  • ACETA7
  • SCEAT7
  • SCEND8
All valid words 10

A to Z. Includes rare and Collins-only words. Linked tiles open the word's meaning, score and rhymes.

  • ACERB9
  • ACERS7
  • ACETA7
  • ICERS7
  • OCEAN7
  • SCEAT7
  • SCENA7
  • SCEND8
  • SCENE7
  • SCENT7

Highest-scoring words

Scrabble and Words With Friends points, before board bonuses
WordScrabbleWords With FriendsDictionaries
ACERB911All three
SCEND810All three
SCENE79All three
OCEAN79All three
SCENT79All three
SCENA79All three
ICERS78Collins only
ACERS78Collins only
ACETA78All three
SCEAT78Collins only

The pattern is _ C E _ _. Five words begin with S, while three begin with A; ICERS and OCEAN account for the remaining first letters. Just three entries are common by frequency, so familiar-looking matches sit beside specialist vocabulary, and three of the ten appear among Wordle answers.

The C-E pattern at a glance

  • There are 10 five-letter matches, with C second and E third.
  • SCENE, OCEAN, and SCENT are recognizable examples.
  • Five words start with S; three start with A.
  • The final letters are spread across seven choices, with A, S, and T tied at two each.

How many 5-letter words have C second and E third?

There are 10 tournament-dictionary matches for the pattern _CE__. SCENE and SCENT share the opening SCE, while OCEAN brings a different, familiar shape. ACERS and ICERS also fit, but the other entries are less likely to come to mind during a quick puzzle solve.

The first letter narrows your choices fast: S accounts for half the matches, and A supplies three more. The final letter is less decisive: A, S, and T each finish two words, while B, D, E, and N finish one apiece. If your clue fixes the last tile, that split can trim the search.

What do Wordle coverage and tile scores show?

Three of these words are Wordle answers, and all 10 are allowed guesses. SCENE and OCEAN are immediately recognizable candidates, though the three answer words are not identified, so treat the count as coverage rather than a recommendation to guess a particular word.

ACERB leads the tile-score ranking at 9 points, ahead of SCEND at 8. SCENE, OCEAN, and SCENT each score 7, as do the other entries outside the top two. The average score is 7.3, so ACERB stands out without making the rest unusually low-scoring.

Dictionary support is uneven: Collins includes all 10, while NWL2023 and ENABLE include seven apiece. Only three entries meet the common-word frequency threshold, and eight have definitions. That gap matters in word games: check your game's word list before relying on a less familiar match.

Questions people ask

What are some five-letter words with C second and E third?
SCENE, OCEAN, and SCENT are three familiar examples. Other matches include SCENA, ICERS, ACERS, ACERB, ACETA, SCEAT, and SCEND. Together, those examples make up all 10 words with C in the second position and E in the third.
Which word in this pattern has the highest tile score?
ACERB has the highest listed tile score, at 9 points. SCEND follows at 8, while SCENE, OCEAN, and SCENT each score 7. The average across the 10 matches is 7.3, making ACERB the clear top scorer in this group.
Are all 10 words accepted in NWL2023 games?
No. NWL2023 includes seven of the 10 matches, while Collins includes all 10 and ENABLE includes seven. The page does not specify which individual words differ between dictionaries, so verify an unfamiliar entry against the word list used in your game.

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