6-letter words with N as the 2nd letter and H as the 3rd letter

With N fixed in slot two and H in slot three, the pattern is _NH___: 24 tournament-dictionary words fit. The opening letters are highly lopsided: 18 start with U, five with I, and one with E. Familiar candidates include INHALE, UNHOLY, and UNHURT, while most of the remaining matches are less common.

The pattern at a glance

• 24 six-letter words match the _NH___ pattern across the tournament dictionaries.
• UNHOOK and UNHUSK tie for the top Scrabble score at 13 points.
• UNHOLY, UNHEWN, and UNHIVE each score 12 points.
• U starts 18 matches; I starts five, and E starts one.
• INHALE is the only match in the top 25,000 English words by frequency.

Which 6-letter words with N second and H third score most?

UNHOOK and UNHUSK lead at 13 Scrabble points each. UNHOLY, UNHEWN, and UNHIVE follow at 12, so those five are the strongest scoring options among the matches.

The group averages 10.3 points, but a high score does not make a word familiar. INHALE is the standout everyday word; UNHELE and UNHOOP are examples of less familiar forms. Collins includes all 24 matches, compared with 18 in NWL2023 and 17 in ENABLE.

Dictionary coverage varies, so check your game's word list before playing an obscure entry.

How does this pattern compare with nearby letter pairs?

The 6-letter words with N second and H third form a smaller group than several nearby patterns. Keep N in slot two and change the third letter to C or S, and each pattern has 77 matches. Keep H in slot three but change N to P, and the count rises to 29; O gives 23.

That makes the fixed H unusually selective for N as the preceding letter. For a solve, test the common U opening first, then try I with INHALE or INHERE. If the third letter is uncertain, compare the N-and-C or N-and-S patterns instead of cycling through endings: the final letters range from E and D to P, G, and K.