5-letter words ending in I

Most words in this group are borrowings, and that explains the gap between 269 total and 7 common. Japanese, Hebrew and Latin supply the best-known ones. Latin plurals such as CACTI, FUNGI and RADII are the quickest shortcut, since each is formed from a word you already know.

Ending in I at a glance

• Lists: Collins takes 253, NWL2023 takes 180 and ENABLE takes 142.
• Every one of the 269 is an allowed guess, and 11 have been answers.
• Only 7 are common, under 3 percent of the whole group.
• Top scorers: LAZZI at 23, HAJJI at 22 and KHAZI at 21.
• C opens 26 words, ahead of S with 25 and A with 24.

Why are most five-letter I words borrowed?

English words rarely end in I, so most of these come from other languages. SUSHI, EMOJI and KANJI are Japanese, RABBI is Hebrew, KHAKI comes through Urdu, and SWAMI comes from Sanskrit.

The result is a list full of words that look familiar to word-game players but sit far from everyday speech. Knowing the language of origin often tells you the spelling, since Japanese words favour vowels in simple alternation.

Only 7 of 269 are common, and the other 262 include many spellings that appear in Scrabble lists alone.

Which words are Latin plurals?

CACTI, FUNGI and RADII are plurals of CACTUS, FUNGUS and RADIUS, and ALIBI is itself Latin. All four are accepted. Plural forms are the most reliable I-enders because the singular is a word you already know.

The -NGI tail has 8 words, -STI, -SHI, -OLI and -MBI have 7 each, and -CHI has 6. SUSHI and FUNGI are the only everyday members of those.

Which Wordle answers end in I?

Eleven have been answers: CHILI, RABBI, SUSHI, QUASI, FUNGI, ALIBI, KHAKI, SWAMI, CACTI, RADII and ENNUI. That is about 4 percent of the 269 words, so a Wordle answer ending in I is a rare event. Most of the group exists only as a guess or a Scrabble play.

A confirmed I in the last square is useful because it narrows the letters before it sharply. Test the vowel pairs with A and U first.

Which I words score the most?

Two Zs make the leaders: LAZZI scores 23 and HAJJI 22 on double heavy letters. KHAZI scores 21 and ZOMBI 18. For a plain word the average is 8.7, and SUSHI lands at 8.

Collins accepts 253 of the 269 words, but ENABLE accepts 142, 111 fewer. Check your game's word list before playing unusual spellings such as KHAZI.