6-letter words with I as the 2nd letter and L as the 3rd letter

With 213 matches, this fixed pair leaves four letters open. SILVER, KILLED, FILLED, and PILLOW show familiar paths through the pattern; 31 entries meet the common-word cutoff. The rest include specialist vocabulary and inflected forms, so a valid tournament entry may still feel unfamiliar when you are solving quickly.

At a glance: the I-L pattern

• The fixed I-L pair appears in 213 six-letter entries.
• Just 31 matches meet the common-word cutoff.
• M is the leading first letter, with 28 words; P follows with 23.
• S is the most frequent final letter: 48 words end in S, compared with 33 ending in D.

Which first and last letters appear most?

M gives you the most starting options: 28 matches begin that way, including MILLER and MILDLY. P follows with 23, then S with 21. When you know the first letter, those clusters make a good place to scan; PILLOW, PILLAR, and SILVER are easy examples to recognize.

The final letter tilts toward S: 48 words end there, while 33 end in D. R and E follow at 27 and 23. An S ending is common, but it does not always signal a straightforward plural; OILERS and VILLAS have different word shapes.

How to use this I-L pattern in a word game

The dictionary counts differ: 211 matches appear in Collins, compared with 163 in NWL2023 and 156 in ENABLE. Those totals overlap, so do not add them together or assume that a word accepted in one list works in another.

Only 31 matches meet the common-word cutoff. For a puzzle clue, start with SILVER, FILTER, FILLED, or WILLOW, then check your game's word list before committing to a less familiar form. A large match count does not mean every candidate is everyday vocabulary.

Keep the middle pair fixed and test the first and final letters against your crossing clues. That avoids a common mistake: treating a familiar-looking ending as proof that the whole word fits.