5-letter words with H as the 1st letter and K as the 4th letter

The pattern is H _ _ K _, so the fourth letter is fixed while the middle pair stays open. HAWKS, HOOKS, HICKS, HACKS, and HUSKY show how much the middle can change. Just 6 of the 30 words are common by the frequency measure, so expect plenty of uncommon entries alongside familiar guesses.

At a glance: the H-and-K pattern

• There are 30 matching words across the tournament dictionaries.
• HOKKU scores 16, the highest score among the examples.
• The final letter is S for 19 words and Y for 7.
• Only 2 matching words are Wordle answers; all 30 are allowed guesses.

How many 5-letter words have H first and K fourth?

There are 30 five-letter matches for H first and K fourth. That is fewer than the 50 P-starting, 48 B-starting, and 43 S-starting words with K fourth, but close to the 31 beginning with M.

The count changes slightly by dictionary: Collins has 29, NWL2023 has 27, and ENABLE has 26. That spread matters in play: a word accepted in one game’s list may not be accepted in another. Check your game’s word list before relying on an unusual entry.

The neighboring H-and-E pattern has 105 matches, while H first and L fourth has 37. The fixed K is a tighter filter than either of those fourth-letter choices.

Which H-and-K words score highest?

HOKKU tops the scoring examples at 16 points. HAWKS, HUSKY, HUNKY, HANKY, HOOKY, and HINKY each score 15; HICKS scores 14. The useful distinction is the unusual K, not a long word length: every option here is five letters.

For 5-letter words with H first and K fourth, the ending narrows your search fast. S accounts for 19 matches, while Y accounts for 7; A and U have 2 apiece. Try the S group first when the last tile is unknown, but don’t assume every fit is a familiar word: just 6 entries meet the common-word cutoff.

The same H-and-K positions produce 51 matches at six letters and 74 at seven. If your puzzle confirms an extra tile, move to the longer pattern rather than forcing a five-letter candidate.