5-letter words with I as the 2nd letter and N as the 3rd letter

The middle pair pins every entry to _IN__, so the first and last letters decide the rest. L opens 23 words, M opens 22, and P opens 18, while endings lean hard on S and Y: 82 words finish in S and 33 in Y. Familiar picks include SINCE, FINAL, MINOR, NINJA, WINDS and RINGS, and 48 of the 207 rank as common English.

The _IN_ pattern in four numbers

• 207 five-letter words hold I in the second slot and N in the third.
• 82 end in S and 33 in Y, so plural and adjective shapes fill most of the list.
• 48 rank among the 25,000 most common English words, including SINCE, FINAL and MINOR.
• ZINKY tops the Scrabble scores at 21, with ZINCY next on 19 and JINKS on 16.
• 35 sit on Wordle's answer list, and 206 of the 207 are accepted guesses.

Why so many of these words end in S

Plurals and third-person verbs create the S endings, and they account for 82 of the 207 words. MINES, WINES and LINES keep the same four letters and swap the opening; MINDS, FINDS and WINDS repeat that trick with a D.

The Y group behaves much the same way. MINTY, PINKY, DINGY and WINDY carry 33 entries, and the E set adds 19 more through SINCE, MINCE, WINCE, RINSE and HINGE. Only 12 close with A and 10 with R, so the final tile is a strong filter here.

Which words here score best in Scrabble?

ZINKY leads at 21 points and ZINCY follows on 19, while ZINKE and ZINGY each reach 18. Eight of the ten best-scoring words carry a Z, so a single premium tile separates the leaders from the rest of the list.

WINZE lands on 17 and JINKS on 16 for players holding a J or W. For a word with I as the 2nd letter and N as the 3rd letter, Collins holds 203 entries and NWL2023 holds 170, so ZINKY can be refused in North American games; verify your game's lexicon before an unfamiliar play.