5-letter words with U as the 4th letter and S as the 5th letter

A fixed U-S ending narrows the search to 139 five-letter entries, but the set mixes everyday words such as FOCUS, BONUS, and VIRUS with rarer forms. Only 17 fall within the top 25,000 English words by frequency. The opening letters spread widely: M and T tie for the lead, with 12 words apiece.

Familiar words and a standout score

• 139 tournament-dictionary words fit the pattern _ _ _ U S.
• FOCUS, BONUS, VIRUS, MINUS, and GENUS are among the recognizable examples.
• Only 17 entries rank among the top 25,000 English words by frequency.
• JUJUS leads the score list at 19 points; KUZUS follows at 18.
• Wordle has 12 matching answers, while all 139 are allowed guesses.

5-letter words with U as 4th and S as 5th letter

The first three letters do most of the work in narrowing this pattern. M and T each begin 12 entries, while B begins 9. Try familiar anchors such as MINUS, BONUS, and FOCUS first; if those letters fail, the less common openings can still complete the U-S ending.

Dictionary coverage differs sharply by game. Collins includes 137 matches, compared with 100 in NWL2023 and 87 in ENABLE. The 139 total counts words present in at least one of those tournament dictionaries, not words guaranteed in every game.

For scale, the same five-letter pattern with E in the fourth spot has 719 matches. Check your game's word list before playing.

How should you choose a high scorer?

JUJUS is the scoring leader, but its repeated J makes it a less obvious guess than FOCUS or BONUS. Save high-value letters for a play where the board rewards them; the word's base score alone does not decide the best move.

• JUJUS scores 19 points, the highest score.
• KUZUS scores 18, and YUZUS scores 17.
• ZEBUS and JUKUS each reach 16 points.
• Use common words such as VIRUS or MINUS when solving matters more than maximizing a tile score.