6-letter words with D as the 1st letter and N as the 3rd letter

The fixed pattern is D _ N _ _ _: the first and third letters stay put, while the other four slots decide if the result is a familiar word or a specialist entry. dinner, danger, denied, dining, dental and donate show how broad the middle-letter choices are. There are 104 tournament-dictionary matches, but only 18 fall among the common words.

How many 6-letter words have D first and N third?

• The pattern has 104 matches across tournament dictionaries.
• Only 18 matches are common by English word-frequency ranking.
• Collins includes 101 matches, NWL2023 includes 82, and ENABLE includes 73; dictionary counts overlap.
• S is the most frequent final letter, with 24 words; D follows with 16.
• A definition is available for 88 of the matches.

Which familiar words fit the D–N pattern?

Everyday choices include dinner, danger, dining, dental and donate. Denied, denial and denies share a different useful shape: they keep D and N fixed while changing the vowels and final letters.

That variety matters when a clue gives only the first and third positions. Dinner repeats N in the fourth slot, while danger places G there; trying a different middle letter can open up a new word family without disturbing the known pattern.

Only 18 entries rank among common English words, even though 88 have definitions. Expect a mix of familiar vocabulary and less familiar options rather than a list made entirely of everyday terms.

The last letter narrows the search quickly: S leads with 24 matches, D has 16, and E and R each have 15. If those endings fail, Y accounts for 10 more.

Which D–N words score highest in Scrabble?

Donzel tops the scoring examples at 16 points. Donkey, dinghy, donjon, dinkey, dinkly, dentex and dankly each score 14, while dinkum makes 13.

Donzel’s Z contributes 10 face-value Scrabble points, the reason this less familiar word beats everyday options such as dinner or donate. Treat the score as a play opportunity, not a signal that the word is common.

Dictionary coverage differs: Collins has 101 matches, compared with 82 in NWL2023 and 73 in ENABLE. Check your game’s chosen word list before relying on a candidate.

For a nearby pattern, compare the five-letter set of 55 words or the seven-letter set of 145. The six-letter group sits between them, with its own fixed D-first, N-third clue.