5-letter words with O as the 2nd letter and B as the 4th letter

The fixed pattern is _ O _ B _, but the final letter narrows the choices sharply: 17 entries end in Y and 13 end in S. C supplies the largest opening group, with 10 words, while B starts 7. Familiar options include DOUBT, LOBBY, HOBBY, and COMBO; many of the remaining matches are uncommon.

Pattern facts at a glance

• All 48 matches have O in position two and B in position four.
• Y is the leading final letter, appearing in 17 words.
• S ranks second, with 13 matches.
• C is the most common first letter, starting 10 words; B starts 7.
• Only 10 matches count as common English words.

Which matches are common and game-legal?

Only 10 matches count as common, while 36 have definitions. DOUBT, LOBBY, HOBBY, and COMBO are recognizable anchors; much of the remaining set is less familiar.

Dictionary coverage differs by game. Collins includes 46 matches, while NWL2023 includes 33 and ENABLE includes 26; those groups overlap, so their counts should not be added. Check your game's word list before playing an unfamiliar entry.

Five matches appear in the Wordle answer list, while all 48 are allowed guesses for this pattern. A matching guess is not automatically an answer.

Why do the endings matter?

Y and S together account for 30 matches, more than the other six final-letter groups combined. DOUBT is a familiar T-ending option, while COMBO ends in O.

Scoring gives a different shortlist. ZOMBI leads at 18 points; HOBBY, YOBBY, and WOMBY each score 15. A high tile total does not make every option an everyday guess.

The fourth-letter B is unusually restrictive: keeping O second but changing that slot to E yields 436 matches, compared with 48 here. That is about one ninth as many choices. Confirm the fixed tile before spending time on rarer opening letters.

5-letter words with O second and B fourth