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6-letter words with I as the 3rd letter and F as the 5th letter

Six-letter words with I 3rd and F 5th come to 21, and 16 of them carry a double F.

21 wordsTop pick CHIEFSHighest score WHIFFY 21

3 of 21 are everyday words (14%). A mix of familiar words and game-only finds.

With I in 3rd place, E is the most common 5th letter (544 words). The bar under each letter shows the size of its list.

  • Length
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15

Best words to play first 21 · most-used first

  • CHIEFS14
  • CLIFFS14
  • BRIEFS11
  • SNIFFS12
  • SPIFFY17
  • GRIEFS10
  • STIFFS12
  • WHIFFS18
  • SKIFFS16
  • STIFFY15
  • CLIFFY17
  • SNIFFY15
  • WHIFFY21
  • GRIFFS13
  • GRIFFE13
  • SPIFFS14
  • COIFFE14
  • QUIFFS21
  • GLIFFS13
  • PRIEFE11
  • PRIEFS11
All valid words 21

A to Z. Includes rare and Collins-only words. Linked tiles open the word's meaning, score and rhymes.

  • BRIEFS11
  • CHIEFS14
  • CLIFFS14
  • CLIFFY17
  • COIFFE14
  • GLIFFS13
  • GRIEFS10
  • GRIFFE13
  • GRIFFS13
  • PRIEFE11
  • PRIEFS11
  • QUIFFS21
  • SKIFFS16
  • SNIFFS12
  • SNIFFY15
  • SPIFFS14
  • SPIFFY17
  • STIFFS12
  • STIFFY15
  • WHIFFS18
  • WHIFFY21
Letters by positionIn 76% of these words the 4th letter is F.
1st letter
  1. S33%
  2. C19%
  3. G19%
2nd letter
  1. R29%
  2. H14%
  3. L14%
4th letter
  1. F76%
  2. E24%
6th letter
  1. S62%
  2. Y24%
  3. E14%

Highest-scoring words

Scrabble and Words With Friends points, before board bonuses
Score spreadMost of these words score 14 in Scrabble; WHIFFY tops the list with 21. Scores before board bonuses.
  1. 1010 points: 1 words
  2. 11 points: 3 words
  3. 1212 points: 2 words
  4. 13 points: 3 words
  5. 1414 points: 4 words
  6. 15 points: 2 words
  7. 1616 points: 1 words
  8. 17 points: 2 words
  9. 1818 points: 1 words
  10. 19 points: 0 words
  11. 2020 points: 0 words
  12. 21 points: 2 words
WordScrabbleWords With FriendsDictionaries
WHIFFY2119Collins · NWL
QUIFFS2122All three
WHIFFS1817All three
SPIFFY1717All three
CLIFFY1718All three
SKIFFS1616All three
STIFFY1514Collins · NWL
SNIFFY1515All three
CHIEFS1414All three
CLIFFS1416All three
SPIFFS1415All three
COIFFE1415All three

Small list, expensive letters. CHIEFS, CLIFFS, BRIEFS, SNIFFS and GRIEFS end in -FS, while SPIFFY, CLIFFY and SNIFFY swap that S for a Y. Sixteen matches carry two Fs in a row, and the 14.4 average sits about four points above the norm for I-third six-letter words.

The shape of a 21-word list

  • 21 matches put I in slot three and F in slot five.
  • Sixteen of them carry a double F; the other five hold E in slot four.
  • Nine matches end in -FFS, five in -FFY and two in -FFE.
  • The average score is 14.4, against 10.4 for I-third six-letter words as a whole.
  • WHIFFY and QUIFFS tie for the top score on 21 points.

The -FFS group does most of the work

Nine matches end in -FFS: CLIFFS, GRIFFS, GLIFFS, QUIFFS, SKIFFS, SNIFFS, SPIFFS, STIFFS and WHIFFS. Only CLIFFS ranks as common, so the group reads as tournament filler even though the shape looks familiar.

The single-F cousins are friendlier still. CHIEFS, GRIEFS, BRIEFS and PRIEFS all take E in slot four, and CHIEFS and BRIEFS sit in the common band beside CLIFFS.

Where the big scores come from

WHIFFY and QUIFFS both reach 21. WHIFFS follows on 18, SPIFFY and CLIFFY on 17, and SKIFFS on 16. A single F is worth 4 points, so any double F opens at 8 before the other tiles are counted.

Collins carries all 21 words, NWL2023 takes 19 and ENABLE just 17. PRIEFE and PRIEFS are the Scots pair missing from NWL2023, and STIFFY and WHIFFY are the extra gaps in ENABLE.

Building on the -IF- frame

Tip

Anchor on the F pair before anything else. Sixteen of the 21 matches double the F, so a word ending -FFS or -FFY is nearly always live here, and the F alone banks 8 points.

Questions people ask

How many 6-letter words have I third and F fifth?
Twenty-one. Sixteen carry a double F, nine end in -FFS and five in -FFY, and the average score is 14.4. Only BRIEFS, CHIEFS and CLIFFS count as common, so tournament vocabulary fills the rest.
What is the best score in this set?
WHIFFY and QUIFFS share the top spot on 21 points. WHIFFS reaches 18, SPIFFY and CLIFFY reach 17, and SKIFFS lands on 16. F is worth 4 points, so any double F starts you at 8.
Which words here are common English?
Three qualify: BRIEFS, CHIEFS and CLIFFS. Between them they show both shapes on the list, the single F of CHIEFS and BRIEFS and the double F of CLIFFS.

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