5-letter words with L as the 2nd letter and A as the 4th letter

The pattern fixes two positions but leaves the first, third, and final letters open. That gives you a compact set with a mix of everyday words such as CLEAN and FLOAT, plus less familiar entries such as GLIAL and ALWAY. Dictionary coverage varies: the list has 43 ENABLE words, 52 Collins words, and 44 NWL2023 words.

At a glance: the _L_A_ pattern

• There are 53 tournament-dictionary words matching _L_A_.
• CLEAR, CLEAN, FLOAT, ALTAR, and PLEAD are among the examples.
• Twelve matches fall within the top 25,000 English words by frequency.
• CLOAK, BLEAK, and ALWAY each score 11 points.
• Seventeen matching words are dictionary-valid Wordle answers.

Which endings dominate this pattern?

Words ending in S lead this group: 12 of the 53 matches finish with that letter. CLEAR and PLEAS show how different the resulting words can look while keeping L second and A fourth. T is the next most common ending, with 7 words, including FLOAT and CLEAT.

N and R each close 5 words, while D, L, and M each close 4. That gives you a practical solving order: test S or T first when the final tile is unknown, then try N or R. The opening letter is less concentrated; A starts 13 words, while G and U each start 6.

How should you use these words in a game?

For a Wordle clue, 17 words in this pattern also appear as dictionary-valid answers. Start with familiar candidates such as CLEAR, CLEAN, or FLOAT, then use the final-letter counts to narrow the remaining options. The 12 common words are a small share of the full set, so an obscure-looking match is not automatically invalid.

For a score-focused play, CLOAK, BLEAK, and ALWAY lead at 11 points each. The pattern's 5-letter words with L as the 2nd letter and A as the 4th letter average 7.1 points, so those top scorers stand out. Dictionary coverage is not identical across games: check your game's word list before relying on a Collins-only entry.