5-letter words with P as the 4th letter and Y as the 5th letter

Every match ends in the letters P and Y, so the frame reads with P in the fourth square and Y in the fifth throughout. Most are adjectives describing how something looks or feels, from HAPPY and LUMPY to WIMPY and SOAPY. The list is deep enough to matter in Wordle, where 16 of the 79 are answers.

The PY ending at a glance

• 79 matches, the deepest P-and-Y list at five letters.
• 16 are Wordle answers, including HAPPY, JUMPY, PUPPY and SOAPY.
• ZIPPY and ZAPPY top the scores at 21 each.
• G opens 11 words, P opens 9 and S opens 8.
• 4 words are everyday common: BUMPY, HAPPY, POPPY and PUPPY.

How many of these words end in -PPY?

Thirty-two close with the doubled letters P and Y, among them HAPPY, POPPY, PUPPY, GUPPY, NAPPY, SAPPY and ZIPPY. The rest spread across other consonant pairs, so the -PPY tail is the strongest single clue in the frame.

Y in the last square is the engine behind the high average of 13.1. Y carries 4 points in Scrabble and every word here ends with it, so even a plain word such as SAPPY clears 12.

Adjectives dominate, which is unusual for a five-letter pattern. BUMPY, LUMPY, SAPPY, SOAPY, WIMPY and JUMPY all describe a quality, so a green Y often tells you the answer describes something rather than names it.

Z and J at the top of the list

ZIPPY and ZAPPY tie at 21 points, then JUMPY and JIMPY sit on 19. Those four carry the two highest tiles in the game, so they pull the pattern average up to 13.1.

The same letters create the trap. JIMPY and KEMPY are rare or regional words that few players know, and reaching for them costs a turn if the board rejects them.

Breadth is the real strength here. Collins carries 76 of the 79, NWL2023 has 59 and ENABLE has 49, so almost the whole list survives in any tournament room.