6-letter words with H as the 4th letter and W as the 6th letter

W endings are rare in English, so this small group stands out. Six matches close on -AW, four on -EW and three on -OW. Four words tie at the top on 15 points, and only ANYHOW and NEPHEW rank as common, which leaves CASHEW and ESCHEW as the familiar near-misses.

Six-letter words with H as the 4th letter and W as the 6th letter

• Thirteen matches, and every one of them closes on W.
• Six end in -AW, four in -EW and three in -OW.
• ANYHOW, YEEHAW, HEEHAW and FORHOW tie at the top on 15 points.
• Only ANYHOW and NEPHEW count as common words.
• Collins and NWL2023 each take 12 matches, but they disagree on which two: YEEHAW is North American and FORHOW is Collins-only.

The three W tails

The -AW group is the biggest with six: BASHAW, CASHAW, CUSHAW, HEEHAW, UNTHAW and YEEHAW. It is also where the interjections collect, which is why the shape sounds louder than its size suggests. CASHAW and CUSHAW differ by one vowel, and HEEHAW and YEEHAW differ by one consonant, so near-twins are everywhere here.

-EW supplies four in CASHEW, ESCHEW, NEPHEW and RECHEW, three of which most players already know. -OW takes the last three in ANYHOW, FORHOW and RESHOW, and ANYHOW is the only one of those that shows up in ordinary writing.

Which words tie at the top?

Four matches share 15 points: ANYHOW, YEEHAW, HEEHAW and FORHOW. Each carries a W and a Y, the pair that the scoring rewards most here, so the leaders look alike even though their meanings do not.

CASHEW, ESCHEW, NEPHEW, BASHAW, CASHAW, CUSHAW and RECHEW follow on 14, and RESHOW and UNTHAW close the list on 12. The two big tournament lists agree on 11 of the 13 words, splitting only on YEEHAW and FORHOW.