6-letter words with I as the 1st letter and U as the 4th letter

The pattern is I _ _ U _ _: keep I in the opening slot and U in the fourth, then work through the remaining letters. ISSUE, INJURY, and IMMUNE are recognizable options, but most entries are less common: just 9 of the 40 fall within the top 25,000 English words by frequency. The count also changes by dictionary, so not every match works in every game.

6-letter words with I first and U fourth at a glance

• There are 40 entries across the tournament dictionaries counted for this pattern.
• INJURY scores 16 points, the highest score among the examples provided.
• ISSUES, INJURY, and ISSUED are recognizable choices that fit I _ _ U _ _.
• The most frequent final letter is E, appearing in 13 entries; S follows with 7.
• Only 9 entries are common by the frequency measure used for English words.

How many words fit this letter pattern?

The total is 40 in Collins, 38 in NWL2023, and 33 in ENABLE. A word accepted in one game may not appear in another, so the full count is not a promise that every entry works everywhere. Of the 40, 37 have definitions.

The neighboring patterns are more crowded: I with A in the fourth position has 62 entries, while I with I there has 61. The U pattern’s 40 is also well below the 120 words beginning with S and keeping U fourth. That makes this a narrower search than its familiar opening letter suggests.

Which words score well, and what should you watch for?

INJURY leads at 16 points, followed by INJURE at 13. IMBUED and IMPUGN each score 11, while IMMUNE and IMPURE score 10. If the board gives you a premium square, consider the high-value letters in INJURY before reaching for an obscure entry.

The ending pattern can narrow a rack quickly: 13 words end in E, 7 in S, and 6 in T. That final-letter split sharpens the search, but the pattern is a placement clue rather than a full answer list.