6-letter words with N as the 5th letter and I as the 6th letter

The pattern pins down the last two letters, leaving 22 possible words in tournament dictionaries. D and R head the opening-letter counts, each starting three entries. Just three matches rank among the top 25,000 English words by frequency, so a few recognizable examples sit alongside many uncommon ones.

Quick facts about this N-I pattern

• The pattern matches 22 six-letter tournament-dictionary words.
• All 22 entries end with the same two letters: N followed by I.
• D and R tie for the most common starting letter, with three words each.
• DJINNI tops the scoring examples at 14 points.
• Only three matches rank among the 25,000 most frequent English words.

Which matches might you recognize?

ALUMNI, BIKINI, GEMINI, PANINI, and TAHINI are the most familiar-looking examples. Still, the frequency figure is only three, which means most entries are not everyday vocabulary. A recognizable spelling is no guarantee that the word will spring to mind during a game.

The tournament lists do not include identical sets: Collins has 20 matches, NWL2023 has 17, and ENABLE has 12. That difference matters most with less familiar words. Check your game’s word list before playing an entry you have not seen accepted there.

Why is the final I such a tight constraint?

Keep N in fifth place and change only the final letter: the count jumps to 585 for G and 445 for S, but falls to 22 for I. That makes the final vowel the key narrowing clue. If you have already confirmed N in the fifth slot, an I at the end sharply reduces the options.

Changing the fifth letter instead gives a larger, though still modest, set: L before final I has 41 matches, R has 37, and T has 31. Start with ALUMNI or BIKINI if you recognize the pattern, then consider entries such as BIMINI, YOGINI, or ROTINI. For Scrabble scoring, DJINNI leads at 14 points; BIKINI earns 12 and ECHINI earns 11.