6-letter words with F as the 1st letter and L as the 3rd letter

The pattern is F?L???: F is fixed at the start, L sits two places later, and the other four letters vary. FOLLOW and FELLOW show how different words can share that frame. The list has 69 entries across tournament dictionaries, but only 18 rank among the commonest English words.

The F?L??? pattern at a glance

• There are 69 six-letter matches, with F first and L third.
• FOLLOW, FELLOW, FILLED, and FALLEN are familiar examples.
• The final letter is most often S: 16 words end that way.
• Collins includes 69 matches, compared with 61 in NWL2023 and 57 in ENABLE.
• Only 18 matches count as common English words.

How many 6-letter words have F first and L third?

There are 69. Read the pattern as F, any letter, L, then three more letters; the second position is not fixed. That distinction keeps words like FILTER and FILMED in play, even though their middle letters differ.

The endings narrow the search further. S leads with 16 words, followed by R with 13 and D with 9. If your clue ends in R, try FILTER or FALTER; for an S ending, FELLAS is one recognizable option.

Which F?L??? words score well?

FOLKSY tops the scoring examples at 16 points. FILTHY and FYLFOT each score 15, while FULHAM scores 14. Those choices are less everyday than FOLLOW or FELLOW, so weigh the board value against the chance your opponent knows the word.

The 6-letter words with F as the 1st letter and L as the 3rd letter are not all equally familiar or accepted across dictionaries. Just 18 are common, and the dictionary totals differ; check your game's word list before playing an unfamiliar entry such as FYLFOT. For a quick search, lock F and L first, then test the ending letters your clue allows.