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5-letter words with I as the 1st letter and L as the 3rd letter

5-letter words with I as the 1st letter and L as the 3rd letter: 12 matches fit.

12 wordsTop pick ISLESHighest score INLAY 8

2 of 12 are everyday words (17%). A mix of familiar words and game-only finds.

  • 3rd letter
  • A
  • B
  • C
  • D
  • E
  • F
  • G
  • H
  • I
  • J
  • K
  • L
  • M
  • N
  • O
  • P
  • Q
  • R
  • S
  • T
  • U
  • V
  • W
  • X
  • Y
  • Z

With I in 1st place, I is the most common 3rd letter (20 words). The bar under each letter shows the size of its list.

  • Length
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15

Best words to play first 12 · most-used first

  • ISLES5
  • INLET5
  • ISLET5
  • INLAY8
  • IGLOO6
  • IDLER6
  • IDLED7
  • IDLES6
  • ILLER5
  • ISLED6
  • IGLUS6
  • ILLTH8
All valid words 12

A to Z. Includes rare and Collins-only words. Linked tiles open the word's meaning, score and rhymes.

  • IDLED7
  • IDLER6
  • IDLES6
  • IGLOO6
  • IGLUS6
  • ILLER5
  • ILLTH8
  • INLAY8
  • INLET5
  • ISLED6
  • ISLES5
  • ISLET5
Letters by positionIn 67% of these words the 4th letter is E.
2nd letter
  1. D25%
  2. S25%
  3. G17%
4th letter
  1. E67%
  2. O8%
  3. U8%
5th letter
  1. S25%
  2. D17%
  3. R17%

Highest-scoring words

Scrabble and Words With Friends points, before board bonuses
WordScrabbleWords With FriendsDictionaries
INLAY89All three
ILLTH89Collins only
IDLED78All three
IGLOO68All three
IDLER67All three
IDLES67All three
ISLED67All three
IGLUS69All three
ISLES56All three
INLET57All three
ISLET56All three
ILLER57All three

An I at the start and L in the middle leaves just 12 tournament-dictionary matches. The pattern is unusually narrow: only two count as common English words, yet five are Wordle answers. Familiar options include INLET and ISLES; the remaining set mixes everyday forms with less familiar entries such as ILLTH.

5-letter words with I as the 1st letter and L as the 3rd letter

  • Collins accepts all 12 matches; ENABLE and NWL2023 each accept 11.
  • Five matches also occur in the Wordle answer list, and all 12 are allowed guesses.
  • Only two of the twelve rank among common English words.
  • INLAY and ILLTH tie for the top Scrabble score at 8 points apiece.

Can these I-L words work as Wordle guesses?

Five of these words are Wordle answers, while all 12 qualify as allowed guesses. That split matters: an answer list is narrower than the accepted-guess list, so a legal probe is not always a possible solution.

Start with familiar candidates such as INLET, ISLES, or IGLOO when your known letters fit. The set also contains IDLER, IDLED, and IDLES, so watch the final two positions: changing the ending shifts the word between a person, a past-tense verb, and a plural. The five answer matches are not identified individually here, so use the solver for an exact answer-list check.

Once I and L are fixed, use your next guess to test the three open positions rather than replaying either confirmed tile.

Scores and endings worth checking

Scoring is a different filter from solving. INLAY and ILLTH lead at 8 Scrabble points, with IDLED at 7; IGLOO, IDLER, IDLES, ISLED, and IGLUS each score 6. INLET and ISLES are 5-point options, not top scorers.

For 5-letter words with I as the 1st letter and L as the 3rd letter, the tightest constraint is the two fixed positions, not a single ending: S is the most frequent final letter, with three matches, while D, R, and T each finish two. ILLTH is valid in Collins, but the set is not uniformly everyday vocabulary; check your game's word list once before relying on an obscure entry.

If 12 candidates feel too restrictive, changing the first letter to S expands the same third-position pattern to 81 matches.

Questions people ask

Does Collins accept all the five-letter I-and-L matches?
Yes, Collins accepts all 12 words matching this pattern. ENABLE and NWL2023 each accept 11, so one entry is absent from those lists. Check your game's dictionary before playing an unfamiliar candidate, especially ILLTH.
Which word scores highest with I first and L third?
INLAY and ILLTH tie for the highest score at 8 Scrabble points. IDLED follows at 7, while IGLOO, IDLER, IDLES, ISLED, and IGLUS each score 6. The familiar-looking options INLET and ISLES score 5 apiece.
Are most I-first, L-third words common?
No. Only two of the 12 matches count as common English words. INLET and ISLES are recognizable choices, while ILLTH is much less familiar. The pattern also has five Wordle answer matches, though the full set of 12 is allowed for guesses.

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