6-letter words with E as the 2nd letter and C as the 3rd letter

The fixed pair E_C sits mid-word, so the opening letter does most of the work: R starts 45 matches and D another 35, giving the familiar rec- and dec- families. Second, become, record, recent and secret are easy anchors. Only 26 of the 156 are common words, so beyond the recognisable core the list turns technical.

The E_C pair at a glance

• Each of the 156 matches puts E second and C third, so the E_C pair sits in every word.
• R opens 45 matches and D opens 35, so rec- and dec- shapes cover 80 of the 156.
• 29 matches add K in the fourth slot; that C-K join holds the biggest scores.
• 33 end in S, 29 in E and 18 in D, mostly plurals, verbs and past tenses.
• Zechin tops the list at 20, ahead of kecksy on 19 and feckly on 18.

Which E-second, C-third words are easiest to spot?

The rec- family is the widest: record, recent, recall, recipe, recite and recess all start there, and 45 matches open with R.

Dec- is nearly as big at 35. Decide, decade, decent and decree cover the everyday end, while hector, hectic, nectar and vector show the same E_C join under other leads.

Then there is the C-K group: 29 words add K after the C, and their raw scores jump because K is worth 5 points on top of the 3-point C.

Where the E_C scores come from

Zechin reaches 20 on the strength of Z, C and H, while kecksy lands 19 and feckly 18 by leaning on K. Heckle, pecked and feckin each score 15, all inside the C-K group.

The average is 11, dragged down by the flat rec- and dec- words where most tiles score 1 to 3 points.

Collins carries 155 of the 156 matches, NWL2023 124 and ENABLE 117, so the rare C-K spellings are the entries most likely to be missing from a tighter ruleset.