5-letter words with R as the 4th letter and N as the 5th letter

Only 25 tournament-dictionary words fit this pattern: three open letters followed by R-N, with familiar examples including LEARN, STERN, THORN, and ACORN. Collins accepts all 25, while ENABLE and NWL2023 each accept 19. Six rank among the top 25,000 English words by frequency, so most entries are less familiar.

What stands out in this R-N pattern?

• All 25 matches place R fourth and N fifth.
• Seven begin with S, the most common starting letter in this set.
• LEARN, STERN, SWORN, THORN, and MOURN are familiar examples.
• QUERN and AZURN lead the scoring list at 14 points apiece.
• Thirteen matches are Wordle answers; all 25 are allowed guesses.

Which starting letters appear most often?

S leads with seven words, while A starts four. B, C, D, and Y each start two; F and I start one apiece. That uneven spread makes S a strong first-letter candidate when the final R-N is already fixed.

The opening letters turn familiar patterns into useful candidates: S gives you STERN, SWORN, SCORN, and SHORN, while A gives you ACORN, ADORN, and the less common AZURN. The first three positions account for every remaining choice.

Only six of these words rank among the top 25,000 English words by frequency. LEARN, STERN, THORN, and MOURN are recognizable choices; forms such as QUERN and BOURN are less likely to come to mind during a quick solve.

Dictionary coverage is not identical across games: Collins includes all 25 matches, but ENABLE and NWL2023 include 19 each. That gap matters most for obscure options, so check the word list used by your game before relying on a rare entry.

How many 5-letter words have R fourth and N fifth?