6-letter words with A as the 1st letter and N as the 2nd letter

AN is the third biggest A-pair at six letters, behind AR and AL but ahead of AS. Roughly half the list keeps a vowel in the third slot, which is why ANIMAL, ANNUAL and ANEMIA feel ordinary, while 62 matches switch to a consonant and turn up oddities like ANOXIC. Only 19 entries rank inside the 25,000 most common English words.

AN words at a glance

• All 114 matches open with the AN pair.
• Collins holds 109, NWL2023 holds 92 and ENABLE holds 81.
• ANYWAY, ANYHOW, ANOXIC and ANSATZ tie on 15 points.
• A final S closes 33 matches, more than double the next ending.
• Just 19 matches sit inside the 25,000 most common English words.

Which AN words score highest?

Four words share the 15-point top: ANYWAY, ANYHOW, ANOXIC and ANSATZ. Two Y tiles carry ANYWAY and ANYHOW there, an X lifts ANOXIC and a Z does the same for ANSATZ, so the leaders are not the familiar everyday picks. ANCHOR and ANTHEM manage only 11.

The 8.3-point average leaves a wide gap between the top and the tail. ANNEXE, ANOXIA and ANKUSH hold 13 points, then ANTICK slips to 12. A word like ANKLE or ANGELS scores far less, so build the play around the tiles that survive on your rack.

How AN words end and where they are legal

S finishes 33 matches, with A on 15 and E on 10 a long way back. The Y and C endings that close ANYWAY and ANOXIC are rarer still, seven apiece. When the final tile is open, S is the branch to test first.

Coverage is the real trap, because 22 of the 114 sit in Collins alone. Only 96 carry a definition, so an unusual entry that fits your letters can still be refused in a North American game; check the word list your game accepts before a play matters.