5-letter words with E as the 2nd letter and R as the 5th letter

R in the final slot pulls in comparatives and agent nouns, so FEWER, NEWER, SEVER, DEFER, DETER and REFER all collect here. Nouns such as CEDAR, DECOR, TENOR and FEMUR keep the same shape. Sixteen entries rank inside the top 25,000 English words, a deeper familiar core than most letter-pattern lists carry.

Why the -er shape dominates this set

An E fixed in the second slot and an R closing the word leaves room for short verb forms, which is why FEWER, NEWER, SEVER, DEFER, DETER and REFER sit together. Nouns such as CEDAR, DECOR, TENOR and FEMUR fill out the same frame.

D and S open 9 matches each and F opens 7, so a single first-letter clue cuts the group hard. R is a far busier final letter than B, and that alone makes this set more than five times the size of the E-second words that end in B.

How to narrow 64 matches quickly

1. Start with the opening letter: D and S hold 9 matches apiece, and F holds 7.
2. Recall the Wordle answers you know: CEDAR, DECOR, DEFER, DETER, FEVER, LEVER, METER, NEVER, REFER, SEVER and TENOR.
3. Lean on the sixteen common words, because the rest of the list drifts into rare verb forms.
4. Match your word list to the game: Collins carries 62, NWL2023 carries 47 and ENABLE carries 43.

A quick read on the R-final group

• 64 matches sit here, and 21 of them are Wordle answer-list words.
• VEZIR scores 17; HEXER and VEXER each score 15, the top plays.
• NEVER, REFER, FEVER, LEVER and METER are the most familiar entries.
• Two matches, DEBUR and KEYER, appear in NWL2023 but not in Collins.
• Drop to six-letter words with the same pair and the group swells to 183.