5-letter words with Y as the 1st letter and E as the 2nd letter

The YE opening is the third largest pattern for a Y-starting word, behind YA with 46 matches and YO with 43 but well clear of YU on 23. YEARS, YEAST and YELLS are the only everyday entries; the rest lean on slang and older spellings. That is why ENABLE lists just 20 of the 39 words while Collins lists 37.

5-letter words with Y as the 1st letter and E as the 2nd letter

• 39 tournament words begin YE, and 24 of them end in S.
• Only YEARS, YEAST and YELLS rank as common English.
• YECHY and YEXED share the top Scrabble score at 16 points.
• YEARN and YEAST are the only Wordle answers; 38 of the 39 are accepted guesses.
• Collins lists 37 of the 39, ENABLE just 20.

Which last letters follow YE?

S closes 24 of the 39 words, so most YE candidates are plurals or third-person verbs: YEARS, YELLS and YEANS. Three words end in Y and all three are adjectives, YECHY, YESTY and YEUKY. Three more end in N: YEARN, YEVEN and YEWEN.

Scoring tracks the rare tiles rather than the familiar words. YEXED reaches 16 on its X, YECHY matches it with a CH pair, and YECCH sits one point back at 15. YEARS and YELLS, the two words everyone knows, score 8 each.

How the dictionaries treat the YE list

Collins keeps 37 of the 5-letter words with Y as the 1st letter and E as the 2nd letter, while NWL2023 lists 23 and ENABLE only 20, so club players have more room than phone-game players. Thirty of the 39 have a definition; the other nine are bare tournament entries. YEETS is the sharpest example: NWL2023 accepts it and Collins does not.

One accepted-guess trap sits in this list. YEESH and YEETS are legal Wordle guesses built on a Y that most solvers never place, and 38 of the 39 can be entered, yet YEARN and YEAST remain the only possible answers. Check your game's word list before you commit to a YE word you have never seen.