6-letter words with K as the 2nd letter and E as the 3rd letter

The pattern is _KE___: K stays in second place and E in third, while the other four letters can change. These matches lean strongly toward S at the start: 25 begin with S, compared with five beginning with A. SKETCH, SKEWED, and SKEWER are familiar anchors, but only two entries rank among the top 25,000 English words by frequency.

At a glance: the _KE___ pattern

• Thirty entries fit the pattern in at least one tournament dictionary.
• Twenty-five start with S; the other five start with A.
• Fourteen end in S, while seven end in Y.
• SKETCH scores 15 points, and SKEWED scores 14.

Which 6-letter words have K as the 2nd letter and E as the 3rd?

Thirty six-letter words fit this exact letter pattern. Most begin SK: examples include SKETCH, SKEWED, SKEWER, and SKEINS. The smaller A-starting group includes AKEBIA and AKEAKE, so checking the first letter quickly narrows your search.

The pattern is unusually sparse beside its neighboring K-and-E arrangement: putting R second and E third produces 254 six-letter matches. Keep the two fixed positions in mind when testing candidates; a word with K third or E fourth does not belong, even if the other letters look right.

What do the scores and dictionary counts show?

SKETCH leads the familiar examples at 15 points, followed by SKEWED at 14 and SKEWER at 13. Scores can shift with premium squares, but these values make SKETCH a stronger rack-scoring candidate than the lower-scoring examples. The two common entries are a small share of the full group.

Dictionary coverage differs: Collins includes 27 matches, and NWL2023 includes 19 while ENABLE includes 15. Those counts overlap; together they form a 30-word union, not a total to add.

SKEEZY scores 22 points, the top score in this group.

Twenty entries have definitions, so many candidates are uncommon. Check your game's word list before relying on an unfamiliar entry.