5-letter words with V as the 2nd letter

A V in the second square is a rare event: 52 five-letter words carry it, fewer than X at 55 and ahead only of Z, F, Q and J. Fifteen of the 52 are Wordle answers, and 14 rank among the 25,000 most common words. A, O and E do most of the heavy lifting up front.

?V?? at a glance

• Fifty-two matches, all with V in the second square.
• A opens 18 of them, O 13 and E 12.
• Fifteen are Wordle answers; fourteen are common words.
• AVYZE tops the scores at 20, with AVIZE on 17.
• K starts just two matches, KVASS and KVELL, both on 12.
• I and U supply three matches each, the thinnest openings.

Which opening vowels fill the V-second list?

A opens 18 words, O 13 and E 12, so three vowels cover 43 of the 52. I and U share six more, three each, and the remaining words start on K or M. Fix the first tile and the V and you have covered most of the field.

The vowel-heavy openings explain why so many matches feel familiar. AVOID, EVENT, IVORY and EVOKE all fit the shape, while the borrowed AVANT and UVULA supply the odd notes.

Where the big scores come from

AVYZE tops the list at 20 points and AVIZE follows on 17, both built on a Z. Nothing else reaches 13, and EVOKE, KVASS and KVELL tie on 12.

AVYZE and AVIZE live only in Collins, so a North American player loses the two best scores in the group. The average settles at 9.2, held down by a long tail of plain 8-point words.

Answers and common words are different lists