5-letter words ending in M

M is worth 3 points, which puts the average score here at 9.8. Collins accepts all but one of the 180 words, while ENABLE accepts only 125, so the dictionary matters more on this page than most. Seven tails cover almost a third of it.

How the M-enders break down

• Collins takes 179 of the 180, NWL2023 takes 135, ENABLE takes 125.
• 42 have been Wordle answers, and 178 of 180 are legal guesses.
• 29 are common words in the top 25,000 by frequency.
• ZUZIM leads at 25, with ENZYM at 19 and XYLEM at 17.
• S opens 31 words, and A opens 16.

Which M tails are worth learning?

-RUM leads with 10 words, then -RAM and -ARM at 9 each, -OOM and -ISM at 8, and -EAM and -ALM at 7. That is 58 of the 180, a little under a third, so the rest are spread across dozens of one-off endings.

FORUM, SERUM and SCRUM fit the first. ALARM, CHARM and SWARM belong to -ARM, and BLOOM, GROOM, BROOM and GLOOM to -OOM. DREAM, CREAM and STEAM take -EAM, while REALM, PSALM and QUALM close with -ALM.

Which Wordle answers end in M?

42 have been answers, about 23 percent of the 180. The first ten by frequency are ALBUM, CLAIM, DREAM, STORM, CREAM, STEAM, FORUM, ALARM, CHARM and REALM. Only two words in the group are missing from the allowed-guess list.

CLAIM, DREAM and CREAM all carry two vowels in the middle, so a guess that tests A together with E or I clears the most ground. Start there before you commit to a consonant cluster such as the RM in STORM.

Which M words score the most?

ZUZIM scores 25 from two 10-point Zs and the 3-point M. ENZYM follows at 19, XYLEM at 17, and MAXIM, QUALM and BUXOM at 16. The everyday leaders are XYLEM, a plant tissue, and MAXIM, a short saying, which makes both safer plays than the exotic spellings.

For a plain word, ALBUM scores 9, just under the 9.8 average, because the B and M are the only tiles above 1. A bonus square under either lifts it by 3 on a double-letter square, so place the word with that in mind rather than hunting for a rarer option.

ENABLE lists 125 words against 179 in Collins. Words such as ZUZIM and ZIRAM may be challenged outside Collins, so check your game's word list before staking a turn on them.

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