5-letter words with H as the 1st letter and E as the 2nd letter

The pattern HE___ has a sharp split between familiar finds and specialist plays: 22 of the 93 entries are common words. HEART and HEARD give you everyday choices, while HEXYL leads the scoring list. The endings offer another clue: S is much more frequent than any other final letter.

At a glance: the H-E pattern

• The pattern matches 93 five-letter words across the tournament dictionaries.
• HEART, HEARD, HEAVY, and HELLO are recognizable examples.
• Only 22 matches fall among the common words.
• S is the most frequent ending, with 34 words; E is next, with 12.
• Longer HE words are more common, with 155 six-letter and 242 seven-letter matches.

How many 5-letter words have H first and E second?

There are 93 matches in the combined Collins, NWL2023, and ENABLE lists. Coverage varies by game: Collins includes all 93, while NWL2023 has 69 and ENABLE has 67. Treat the full count as a broad pool, not a guarantee that every word will be accepted in your game.

The familiar options include HELPS, HEELS, HEARS, and HEATS, but some matches are less everyday. Of the 93 words, 71 carry dictionary definitions. For a quick solve, test the letters after HE against your known positions instead of assuming every match is equally likely.

5-letter words with H first and E second: plays and scores

Thirteen matching words are Wordle answers, and 92 are allowed guesses. HEART, HELLO, and HEAVY show why the pattern can still leave very different endings to test. Use the answer count as a clue about the pool, not as a reason to guess an unconfirmed word.

For Scrabble scoring, HEXYL tops the listed options at 18 points; HERTZ, HEEZE, and HEJAB each score 17. Those are premium-letter plays, not necessarily easy words to spot. When your rack has an X or Z, check the matching pattern before spending that tile on a lower-scoring familiar word.