5-letter words with S as the 3rd letter and L as the 5th letter

That fixed pattern leaves 16 tournament-dictionary entries, but only 3 rank among the most common English words. BASIL, NASAL, and BASAL are familiar anchors; the rest include less common forms such as FUSIL, EISEL, and OUSEL. The position clue is strong, while everyday vocabulary is not.

The pattern at a glance

• Exactly 16 five-letter words put S third and L last.
• E begins 3 matches; B, F, L, and M begin 2 each.
• LYSOL, FUSIL, FUSEL, HOSEL, and VASAL each score 8 in Scrabble.
• Four matches are Wordle answers, while all 16 are allowed guesses.

How many 5-letter words have S third and L last?

There are 16 matches, a short pool for a clue with two fixed positions. BASIL, NASAL, and BASAL are the most recognizable starting points; EASEL is another everyday-looking option. The remaining examples include specialist or uncommon forms, so recognition alone will not clear the pattern.

The starting letters are not evenly spread: E leads with 3 words, while B, F, L, and M each account for 2. That gives you a practical narrowing move: once the third S and final L are fixed, test likely first letters before spending guesses on obscure entries.

The ending is especially restrictive. With S still in the third position, changing the final letter to S produces 164 matches, compared with 16 ending in L. That contrast makes the last tile a useful filter, not a minor detail.

Which matches work for Wordle and word games?

All 16 words are allowed Wordle guesses, and 4 also appear in the answer list. The answer count is a small subset, so a matching guess is not automatically a likely solution.

Collins includes all 16 entries, while ENABLE and NWL2023 each include 11. Five entries therefore appear in Collins but not in either of those other lists; check the lexicon used by your game before relying on a rare candidate. For 5-letter words with S as the 3rd letter and L as the 5th letter, BASIL and NASAL make better first checks than unfamiliar forms.