5-letter words with L as the 3rd letter and K as the 4th letter

The fixed pattern is _ _ L K _, with only two open letters at the start and one at the end. That still leaves a useful mix: 20 entries end in S, nine end in Y, and just seven rank among common English words. TALKS, FOLKS, WALKS, and MILKY are easier to recognize than many of the less familiar options.

At a glance: the shape of L-K words

• The pattern _ _ L K _ has 35 tournament-dictionary matches.
• S is the most frequent final letter, appearing in 20 words; Y follows with nine.
• B and P each begin five entries, more than any other starting letter.
• FOLKY, YOLKY, and HULKY each score 15 points in Scrabble.
• All 35 matches are allowed Wordle guesses, and five also occur in the answer list.

Which endings dominate this pattern?

The S ending gives you the broadest group: TALKS, FOLKS, WALKS, YOLKS, SILKS, and MILKS are among its examples. Those 20 plural or verb-form entries account for more than half the pattern, so a known final S sharply narrows your search without making it tiny.

Y is the clear runner-up, with nine options such as MILKY, BULKY, SILKY, SULKY, and BALKY. The remaining endings are scarce: A appears twice, while E, I, O, and T each appear once. If your last tile is not S or Y, check the less common endings before guessing.

How to use 5-letter L-third, K-fourth words

For a Wordle guess, this pattern leaves the first two letters to test, so favor a familiar candidate that checks useful letters. TALKS, FOLKS, and WALKS are recognizable S-ending choices; MILKY and BULKY test the Y ending. Five matches are answer-list entries, but the full answer identities are not specified here.

Scrabble offers a different angle. FOLKY, YOLKY, and HULKY lead at 15 points, while MILKY, BULKY, and BALKY score 14. These scores are before board bonuses.

Dictionary coverage varies: the group has 24 ENABLE entries, 34 in Collins, and 28 in NWL2023, so check your game's word list before playing an unfamiliar form. Only seven entries are common, making this pattern less dependable for everyday vocabulary than its count suggests.