6-letter words with E as the 2nd letter and A as the 4th letter

The pattern looks like _E_A__, so the first, third, fifth, and sixth letters remain open. Familiar matches include DEBATE, DECADE, BEHALF, and REPAIR. Only 43 of the 286 matches fall among the most common English words, so expect a mix of everyday vocabulary and tournament entries rather than a list made entirely of familiar answers.

At a glance

• The pattern _E_A__ matches 286 six-letter words in at least one tournament dictionary.
• BECAME, FEMALE, DEMAND, and REMAIN are recognizable examples.
• R leads the first-letter count with 75 words; D follows with 54.
• S is the most common final letter, ending 84 matches.
• Collins includes 282 matches, compared with 217 in NWL2023 and 204 in ENABLE.

How do these six-letter matches begin and end?

R is the strongest opening, with 75 words, and D comes next at 54. B adds 40 matches. That makes REPAIR, REMAIN, and REGARD good familiar anchors, while DEBATE and DETAIL show how many everyday options start with D.

The pattern is not evenly spread across initials: R alone has more matches than S, P, and M combined.

S finishes 84 words, while E ends 66 and T ends 25. Examples such as DELAYS, MEDALS, and METALS show the plural-shaped S ending; FEMALE and DECADE illustrate the final E. If the last tile is still unknown, testing S before less frequent endings gives you the largest group to check.

Only 11 matches end in A.

Which matches score most in Scrabble?

BEZAZZ is the standout scorer at 35 points, far above this pattern’s average score of 9.9. JEZAIL scores 22, and WEZAND scores 19. Those high values come from unusual letter combinations, not from the common words that dominate a casual solve; BECAME and RETAIL are easier to recognize but do not top the scoring list.

The dictionary counts differ, so a valid match in Collins might not be accepted in a game using NWL2023 or ENABLE. Check your game's word list before relying on an unfamiliar entry. For broader pattern comparisons, 6-letter words with E as the 2nd letter and A as the 4th letter are more numerous when the second letter is A, at 302 matches; changing the fourth letter to I gives 383.