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5-letter words with U as the 1st letter and B as the 3rd letter

Sixteen 5-letter words carry U first and B third, and they divide almost evenly between the UMB- and UNB- openings.

16 wordsTop pick URBANHighest score UNBOX 14

1 of 16 are everyday words (6%). Mostly rare words: great for Scrabble, tough for daily puzzles.

With U in 1st place, A is the most common 3rd letter (19 words). The bar under each letter shows the size of its list.

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Best words to play first 16 · most-used first

  • URBAN7
  • UMBER9
  • UMBRA9
  • UNBOX14
  • UNBAN7
  • UMBEL9
  • UMBLE9
  • UNBAR7
  • UNBID8
  • UNBAG8
  • UMBOS9
  • UMBRE9
  • UNBED8
  • UPBOW12
  • UPBYE12
  • URBIA7
All valid words 16

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

  • UMBEL9
  • UMBER9
  • UMBLE9
  • UMBOS9
  • UMBRA9
  • UMBRE9
  • UNBAG8
  • UNBAN7
  • UNBAR7
  • UNBED8
  • UNBID8
  • UNBOX14
  • UPBOW12
  • UPBYE12
  • URBAN7
  • URBIA7
Letters by positionIn 38% of these words the 2nd letter is M.
2nd letter
  1. M38%
  2. N38%
  3. P13%
4th letter
  1. A25%
  2. E19%
  3. O19%
5th letter
  1. E19%
  2. R13%
  3. A13%

Highest-scoring words

Scrabble and Words With Friends points, before board bonuses
WordScrabbleWords With FriendsDictionaries
UNBOX1417All three
UPBOW1215All three
UPBYE1214All three
UMBER912All three
UMBRA912All three
UMBEL913All three
UMBLE913Collins only
UMBOS912All three
UMBRE912Collins only
UNBID811All three
UNBAG812Collins only
UNBED811Collins only

Six of the words open UMB, including UMBRA and UMBER, and six open UNB, from UNBID and UNBAR to UNBOX. Average scoring runs to 9 points because the pattern forces awkward letters together. Only URBAN counts as a common word, and just UMBRA and URBAN are Wordle answers.

Two openings carry the whole list

  • 16 five-letter words match U first and B third.
  • Six open UMB-, six UNB-, two UPB- and two URB-.
  • UNBOX leads the scores at 14, with UPBOW and UPBYE on 12.
  • UMBRA and URBAN are the only Wordle answers.
  • URBAN is the single common word in the group.
  • Four appear in Collins alone: UMBLE, UMBRE, UNBAG and UNBED.

UMB- and UNB- pull in opposite directions

The UMB- group covers shade and shape words: UMBRA and UMBER name the pigment, UMBEL is the flower cluster, and UMBOS, UMBLE and UMBRE round out the six. Their final letters run from A to S, so no shared tail gives the cluster away.

UNB- words act like verbs with a negating prefix. UNBAN, UNBAR, UNBAG, UNBED, UNBID and UNBOX all mean undoing something, which makes the six easy to memorise as a block. Two more words open with UPB, and URBAN and URBIA finish the set with URB-.

When a U-first, B-third word pays off

Tip

URBAN is the safest play of the sixteen. It is the only common word here and one of two Wordle answers, so a solver holding U and B should test it early.

Questions people ask

How many five-letter words have U first and B third?
Sixteen, made up of six UMB- words, six UNB- words, UPBOW, UPBYE, URBAN and URBIA. Only URBAN is common, and UNBOX is the highest scorer at 14.
Which U-first, B-third words are Wordle answers?
Two, UMBRA and URBAN. Both are familiar enough to be guessed early, and URBAN is also the only common word on the list, so it carries most of the practical value here.
What is the top score for U in slot one and B in slot three?
UNBOX reaches 14 points, helped by the X. UPBOW and UPBYE score 12, six UMB- words score 9, and the weakest entries, UNBAN, UNBAR, URBAN and URBIA, still return 7.

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