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5-letter words with R as the 1st letter and L as the 3rd letter

There are 21 5-letter words with R as the 1st letter and L as the 3rd letter, including RELAX, RULES, and RELAY.

21 wordsTop pick RULESHighest score RELAX 12

11 of 21 are everyday words (52%). A friendly list: most players will know the top picks.

With R in 1st place, N is the most common 3rd letter (52 words). The bar under each letter shows the size of its list.

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Best words to play first 21 · most-used first

  • RULES5
  • ROLES5
  • RALLY8
  • RULED6
  • RELAX12
  • ROLLS5
  • RALPH10
  • RILEY8
  • RELAY8
  • RULER5
  • RELIC7
  • RILED6
  • RILES5
  • RELIT5
  • RALES5
  • RILLS5
  • RILLE5
  • ROLFS8
  • RELIE5
  • RELET5
  • ROLAG6
All valid words 21

A to Z. Includes rare and Collins-only words. Linked tiles open the word's meaning, score and rhymes.

  • RALES5
  • RALLY8
  • RALPH10
  • RELAX12
  • RELAY8
  • RELET5
  • RELIC7
  • RELIE5
  • RELIT5
  • RILED6
  • RILES5
  • RILEY8
  • RILLE5
  • RILLS5
  • ROLAG6
  • ROLES5
  • ROLFS8
  • ROLLS5
  • RULED6
  • RULER5
  • RULES5
Letters by positionIn 43% of these words the 4th letter is E.
2nd letter
  1. E29%
  2. I24%
  3. O19%
4th letter
  1. E43%
  2. L19%
  3. A14%
5th letter
  1. S33%
  2. Y14%
  3. T10%

Highest-scoring words

Scrabble and Words With Friends points, before board bonuses
Score spreadMost of these words score 5 in Scrabble; RELAX tops the list with 12. Scores before board bonuses.
  1. 55 points: 11 words
  2. 6 points: 3 words
  3. 77 points: 1 words
  4. 8 points: 4 words
  5. 99 points: 0 words
  6. 10 points: 1 words
  7. 1111 points: 0 words
  8. 12 points: 1 words
WordScrabbleWords With FriendsDictionaries
RELAX1213All three
RALPH1011All three
RALLY89All three
RILEY88All three
RELAY88All three
ROLFS89All three
RELIC79All three
RULED68All three
RILED67All three
ROLAG68Collins only
RULES57All three
ROLES56All three

This fixed pattern has only 21 dictionary-backed matches, so it is much narrower than the neighboring S-first/L-third and P-first/L-third sets. Everyday options include RULES, ROLES, RALLY, RELAX, and RELAY; others are less familiar. The mix gives you a practical split: recognizable guesses for a puzzle, plus a few score-minded choices for tile games.

How many 5-letter words have R first and L third?

  • Collins lists 21 matches; ENABLE and NWL2023 each list 19.
  • Eleven entries fall among the top 25,000 English words by frequency.
  • Eighteen matches have definitions in the source lexicon.
  • Six match the Wordle answer list, and all six are also tournament-dictionary entries.
  • RELAX leads the scoring examples at 12 points.

Which endings appear most often?

Seven of the 21 words end in S, making it the clearest finishing-letter cluster; Y follows with three. D, E, and T each close two words, while C, G, and H close one apiece. If your final square is fixed, start with that S-heavy group rather than cycling through every possible ending.

RULES and ROLES are easy to recognize, while RILLE, RELIE, RELET, and ROLAG are less everyday. That contrast matters in a game: a familiar-looking pattern does not guarantee every candidate belongs in every dictionary. Collins contains two more entries than either ENABLE or NWL2023, so check your game's word list for a borderline form.

How should you use this pattern in a word game?

Tip

With the first and third positions fixed, test the second and fourth letters against familiar options such as RELAX, RULES, and RELAY before considering less common forms.

Questions people ask

How many words match R in the 1st position and L in the 3rd?
There are 21 five-letter matches in the tournament dictionaries. Collins includes all 21, while ENABLE and NWL2023 each include 19. The smaller counts mean two entries are Collins-only, so confirm the active dictionary before playing an unfamiliar candidate.
Which R-first, L-third word scores the most in Scrabble?
RELAX is the highest-scoring example at 12 points. RALPH follows at 10, while RALLY, RILEY, RELAY, and ROLFS each score 8. Those are base tile scores; a letter or word bonus square can change the total during play.
Are any words with this pattern Wordle answers?
Yes, six matches appear in the Wordle answer list, and all six are also found in tournament dictionaries. Their names are not included in the available answer-list facts, so use the fixed R and L positions with a solver to narrow your current puzzle.

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