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

No other letter follows E in as many six-letter words, since N covers 135 while X trails at 76 and M at 74. That volume brings everyday vocabulary such as ENOUGH, ENERGY, ENTIRE and ENGINE, and it hides the pattern's best scores in ENZYME, ENJAMB and ENJOYS. Twenty-three entries count as common English words.

A 135-word list with Z and J at the top

• 135 six-letter entries open with EN; 36 end in E and 26 in S.
• ENZYME and ENZYMS tie at 20 points, the highest scores here.
• Four entries put Z third: ENZYME, ENZYMS, ENZIAN and ENZONE.
• Collins holds 134 of the 135, NWL2023 holds 93 and ENABLE 89.
• Twenty-three entries rank among the 25,000 most common English words.

Why does this pattern produce so many familiar words?

EN is the busiest two-letter opening in the group, and its size pulls in ordinary vocabulary: ENOUGH, ENERGY, ENTIRE, ENGINE, ENSURE, ENLIST and ENCORE all belong here. Nine of the 23 common words end in E, the favourite closing letter for the pattern.

The list closes most often with E, in 36 words, or S, in 26. ENTICE and ENSURE show the -E group beside plurals and third-person forms such as ENTERS, ENJOYS and ENSUES in the -S group.

Collins accepts 134 of the 135, but NWL2023 stops at 93 and ENABLE at 89, and 42 entries, among them ENARCH, ENARMS, ENCALM and ENCAVE, sit in Collins alone. Check your game's word list before reaching for one of those.

Which EN words are the best scoring plays?

ENZYME and ENZYMS share the top score at 20 points, four ahead of ENJAMB on 17, with ENJOYS next on 16 and ENTREZ, ENZIAN and ENZONE on 15. The average is 8.8 points.

Every high scorer leans on Z or J, with ENZYME, ENZIAN and ENZONE carrying the Z and ENJAMB and ENJOYS bringing the J. For a familiar option, ENVOYS scores 12 and ENWOMB 13.