5-letter words with O as the 1st letter and T as the 3rd letter
5-letter words with O as the 1st letter and T as the 3rd letter number 32, and nine of them open OU-.
6 of 32 are everyday words (19%). A mix of familiar words and game-only finds.
With O in 1st place, E is the most common 3rd letter (33 words). The bar under each letter shows the size of its list.
Best words to play first
- OFTEN8
- OUTER5
- OUTTA5
- OPTED8
- OPTIC9
- OTTER5
- OATHS8
- OUTED6
- ORTHO8
- OUTRO5
- OUTDO6
- OSTIA5
- OCTET7
- OCTAL7
- OUTRE5
- OUTIE5
- OTTOS5
- OATEN5
- OCTYL10
- OFTER8
- OUTGO6
- ONTIC7
- OTTAR5
- OCTAN7
- OUTBY10
- OXTER12
- OCTAS7
- OATER5
- OCTAD8
- OKTAS9
- OOTID6
- OPTER7
All valid words 32
- OATEN5
- OATER5
- OATHS8
- OCTAD8
- OCTAL7
- OCTAN7
- OCTAS7
- OCTET7
- OCTYL10
- OFTEN8
- OFTER8
- OKTAS9
- ONTIC7
- OOTID6
- OPTED8
- OPTER7
- OPTIC9
- ORTHO8
- OSTIA5
- OTTAR5
- OTTER5
- OTTOS5
- OUTBY10
- OUTDO6
- OUTED6
- OUTER5
- OUTGO6
- OUTIE5
- OUTRE5
- OUTRO5
- OUTTA5
- OXTER12
Highest-scoring words
| Word | Scrabble | Words With Friends | Dictionaries |
|---|---|---|---|
| OXTER | 12 | 12 | All three |
| OCTYL | 10 | 11 | All three |
| OUTBY | 10 | 11 | All three |
| OPTIC | 9 | 11 | All three |
| OKTAS | 9 | 9 | Collins only |
| OFTEN | 8 | 9 | All three |
| OPTED | 8 | 9 | All three |
| OATHS | 8 | 7 | All three |
| ORTHO | 8 | 7 | All three |
| OFTER | 8 | 8 | All three |
| OCTAD | 8 | 9 | All three |
| OCTET | 7 | 8 | All three |
Nine words start OU-, from OUTDO and OUTER to OUTRO and OUTIE, and six start OC-, including OCTET, OCTAL and OCTAN. The rest lean on OT- and OP-, so OATEN, OFTEN, OPTIC and OTTAR round out the list. Only six count as common English and the average score is a modest 6.8.
The O-first, T-third set at a glance
- 32 words match, and nine of them open OU-.
- Six begin OC-, three begin OT- and three begin OP-.
- Wordle answers number 8 while common words are just 6.
- OUTIE is the one entry the Wordle guess list turns away.
- OXTER leads scoring at 12, with OCTYL and OUTBY on 10.
Where the OU- and OC- words come from
OU- does the heavy lifting. OUTDO, OUTER, OUTGO, OUTIE, OUTRO and OUTRE all put a vowel pair at the front, and then a blend decides the ending. The OC- group is Latin-flavoured: OCTET, OCTAL, OCTAN and OCTYL all build on an octo- root.
A scatter of OT-, OP- and OA- words fills the gaps, from OTTER, OTTOS and OTTAR to OPTIC, OPTED and OATEN. OUTIE is the lone entry the Wordle guess list rejects, though all eight answers are safe.
Narrowing the list with three checks
- Lock the O in slot one and the T in slot three; two squares stay open.
- Guess OUT- or OCT- first, since those shapes cover 15 of the words.
- Expect a low score. OXTER tops out at 12 and nothing here passes it.
- Watch the third letter. OT-, OP- and OA- split the rest almost evenly.
- Skip OUTIE for Wordle and treat every other word as a legal guess.
The trap hiding in the OC- group
Every OC- word opens with the same two letters, so a guess like OCTET feels more informative than it is. Vary the third tile instead and test the OUT- group, which holds nine words.
Questions people ask
How many 5-letter words have O first and T third?
Which O-first, T-third words are Wordle answers?
Does anything in this pattern score well?
Keep going
Related lists
Know some letters already?
Put greens, yellows and greys into the Finder and get only the words that fit.