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

The opening letters are fixed as ES, leaving four slots to complete each word. ESTATE, ESCAPE, ESSAYS and ESTEEM are familiar examples; less familiar entries include ESCHAR and ESKERS. Only 5 of the 38 words rank among the top 25,000 English words by frequency, so expect a mix of everyday vocabulary and specialist terms.

ES words at a glance

• There are 38 six-letter words with E first and S second in the tournament-dictionary count.
• Collins includes 37; NWL2023 includes 27, while ENABLE includes 26.
• Only 5 entries are common by our frequency measure.
• A total of 13 words end in S, making it the most frequent final letter.
• The average score across the 38 matches is 8.4 points.
• ESNECY joins ESCROW and ESCHAR at 11 points, behind only ESCHEW's 14.

Which ES words score highest?

ESCHEW leads the scoring examples at 14 points. ESCROW and ESCHAR each score 11, while ESCAPE scores 10. Those familiar-looking letters do not make ESCHEW an obvious play: its W supplies much of the scoring punch.

For a less unusual option, ESCAPE is recognizable and still reaches 10 points. The top scores are a guide to letter value, not a promise of a premium-square result; the board position changes the total.

How do these words vary by dictionary and ending?

The dictionary counts nearly cover the full set in Collins, but the North American and ENABLE counts are lower. A word accepted in one tournament list may not work in another, so check your game's word list before relying on an unfamiliar entry.

The final letter offers another way to narrow the choices: 13 end in S, while E, L, N and R each appear at the end of 3 words. If you know the last letter, that clue can quickly cut down the 38 candidates. The five-letter version has 12 matches; the seven-letter pattern has 58.