5-letter words with R as the 2nd letter and W as the 4th letter

The pattern is _R_W_: R holds the second position, and W the fourth. That leaves the first and last letters open, producing familiar choices such as BROWN, CROWN, and CROWD alongside less common entries like KREWE. Of the 34 matches, 15 are classed as common by English word frequency, so the pattern mixes everyday words with specialist game vocabulary.

At a glance: the _R_W_ pattern

• There are 34 five-letter matches, and all 34 appear in Collins.
• NWL2023 includes 29 matches, while ENABLE includes 28.
• C begins 7 words, more than B with 6 and D with 5.
• S is the most frequent ending, with 15 words; N ends 8 and L ends 7.
• The pattern has 15 Wordle answers and 34 allowed guesses.

Which letters finish these words?

S dominates the final position: BROWS, CROWS, DRAWS, GROWS, and CREWS all fit. N is another strong ending, seen in BROWN, CROWN, DRAWN, and GROWN. Those two endings account for 23 of the 34 matches, while L contributes 7.

The starting letters cluster too. C leads with 7 entries, including CRAWL, CROWD, and CROWN; B follows with 6, including BRAWL, BROWN, and BROWS. D supplies 5, from DRAWS and DRAWN to DROWN, so checking the first letter can quickly narrow a solve.

How should you use the pattern in a game?

For Wordle, 15 matches are in the answer list, while all 34 are allowed guesses. Try familiar candidates such as BROWN, CROWD, or GROWN when the known letters fit; the larger guess set also contains words that are much less familiar. The counts describe list membership, not a prediction of which answer will appear.

For Scrabble, FROWY is the top scorer at 14 points, ahead of KREWE at 12. CROWD and FROWN each score 11, while BROWN scores 10. That makes FROWY a striking score-first option, but its unusual vocabulary makes it a poor default when you need a word opponents will recognize.

Compare nearby five-letter patterns

Changing W in the fourth slot to E opens a much larger group: the R-second, E-fourth pattern has 104 matches. Keeping W but changing the second letter to H or L gives 23 matches apiece. For the exact 5-letter words with R as the 2nd letter and W as the 4th letter, the standout contrast is how tightly the openings cluster around C and B.