6-letter words with D as the 2nd letter and R as the 5th letter

Ten of the 14 open AD-, which makes the pattern feel like a single family: admire, adhere, advert, adverb, adware, adder, adsorb and more. Only 3 count as common words, and Collins carries all 14 while NWL2023 keeps 12 and ENABLE 11. The sixth letter is usually S or E.

The D-second pattern at a glance

• 14 matches, all opening on a vowel; A takes 10 of them.
• All 14 appear in Collins, with NWL2023 listing 12 and ENABLE 11.
• Six matches end in S, four in E and two in B.
• Adjure leads the scores on 14, adverb on 12 and adward on 11.
• Only 3 matches are common words.

Which words fit a second-letter D?

The AD- core supplies adders, adhere, adjure, admire, adoors, adsorb, adverb, advert, adward and adware. Beyond that the pattern thins to edgers, idlers, odours and udders, one word for each of the other vowels.

Every match puts R in the fifth slot, so only the third, fourth and sixth letters are free. The endings split neatly: six on S, four on E, two on B, then one each on D and T.

Which of these are worth playing?

Adjure tops the table on 14 because J and R combine well, then adverb on 12 and adward on 11. Adhere, advert and adware each reach 10, and the rest sit on 8 or 9.

With three common words in 14, this is a thin pattern, and admire and adhere do most of the recognition work. NWL2023 keeps 12 and ENABLE 11 of the 14, so a spelling that works in one game may not work in another. The neighbour patterns are bigger: D second with E fifth holds 21 matches, and D second with T fifth 17.

Filling the final square