6-letter words with A as the 5th letter and E as the 6th letter

The pattern fixes the final two letters as AE, leaving the first four positions open. Familiar picks such as larvae, reggae, and sundae sit alongside less common forms including curiae, stelae, and tibiae. Only 2 matches meet the common-word cutoff, so expect a mix of recognizable entries and specialist vocabulary.

A-E pattern facts at a glance

• 88 entries match the pattern: A is fifth and E is sixth.
• Only 2 entries are common by the frequency measure; larvae and reggae are recognizable examples.
• Collins includes 87 matches, compared with 68 in NWL2023 and 64 in ENABLE.
• HY PHAE is the top scorer at 17 points; the average score is 9.1.

Which first letters narrow the search?

All 88 matches share the same final two letters, so the first four positions do the useful sorting. Try familiar forms such as larvae, reggae, and sundae first, then use the starting-letter counts to cut down the possibilities.

S leads with 13 words and C follows with 10; P starts 8. F and T each start 7 matches, while A, G, and L each start 5. If S and C do not fit your known letters, P is the next strongest opening to test.

The examples also show how varied the pattern is: reggae is a familiar music term, while curiae and tibiae are less everyday entries. A fixed AE ending does not make the rest of the word predictable.

Which A-E words score well?

HY PHAE scores 17 points, ahead of zoaeae and zooeae at 15 each. Phylae scores 14, while hydrae and phocae each score 13. The rarer top scorers can beat familiar words on points, but they are harder to spot from memory.

Dictionary coverage differs across the three tournament lists: Collins has 87 matches, NWL2023 has 68, and ENABLE has 64. That gap means a valid entry in one list may not work in another, so check your game's word list before committing.

A narrow pattern with few common entries