5-letter words ending in U

Almost every word in this group is a borrowing, from Japanese, French, Quechua or Swahili. Collins accepts 63 of the 66 while ENABLE accepts just 25, so the dictionary is the first thing to settle. After that, it pays to know which handful of words every list shares.

Words ending in U, summarised

• 66 words in all: Collins accepts 63, NWL2023 accepts 40 and ENABLE accepts 25.
• BAYOU is the only Wordle answer and the only common word.
• 65 of the 66 are allowed as guesses, including ADIEU.
• KUDZU leads on points at 19, ahead of KANZU at 18.
• B and P each open 10 words, and K opens 6.

Why is the list full of borrowed words?

English rarely ends a word in U, so most entries come from other languages. HAIKU and OTAKU are Japanese, ADIEU and BIJOU are French, QUIPU is from Quechua and KANZU is Swahili. BAYOU is the one that arrived early enough to become ordinary.

Only 1 of the 66 ranks in the top 25,000 English words, so the list is unusually specialised. A memory aid: HAIKU and OTAKU both end in -KU and both come from Japanese, while KUDZU and PONZU close with -ZU and carry the 10-point Z.

How different are the dictionaries here?

Collins takes 63 and NWL2023 takes 40, while ENABLE stops at 25, which is 38 fewer than Collins. OTAKU, PONZU and WAGYU show the pattern, since none of the three is in ENABLE.

BAYOU, HAIKU, ADIEU, SNAFU, BIJOU, KUDZU and QUIPU are in all three, which makes them the dependable plays.

Is ADIEU a Wordle answer?

No. ADIEU has never been an answer, but it is an allowed guess, and it tests four vowels at once. BAYOU is the only U-ending answer.

Since just 1 of the 66 has been an answer, BAYOU is the only U-ending word the daily puzzle has used. Treat the rest as guesses rather than solutions, and expect the board to reward the common vowels first.

Which U words score the most?

KUDZU scores 19 and KANZU 18, both leaning on a 10-point Z. PONZU, JAMBU, QUIPU and HOKKU each score 16. Everyday words score less: BIJOU 14, HAIKU 12 and BAYOU 10, against a 9.6 average.

The B and P starts are the largest, with 10 words each. BAYOU, BANTU and BIJOU open with B, and PONZU, PILAU and PERDU open with P. K starts 6, including KUDZU, KANZU and KOMBU, and those are the high scorers to hope for.