6-letter words with O as the 4th letter and U as the 5th letter

Two fixed letters create a surprisingly varied set: the pattern runs through everyday words, spellings such as COLOUR, and less familiar game entries. Most matches end in S, T, or R, while R is the most common opening letter. The counts cover entries found in at least one tournament dictionary, not every possible English word.

6-letter words with O as 4th and U as 5th letter

• 120 entries fit the pattern, and 19 are classed as common by English word frequency.
• R leads the opening letters with 15 words; S has 12 and D has 10.
• Final S appears 46 times, ahead of T with 29 and R with 28.
• Collins includes 116 matches, compared with 94 in NWL2023 and 85 in ENABLE; those dictionary totals overlap.

Which familiar words fit the O-U pattern?

FAMOUS, COLOUR, HONOUR, FAVOUR, and HUMOUR all put OU in the final two slots. The spelling matters: COLOR does not fit, because its U would be the sixth letter rather than the fifth.

LAYOUT and PAYOUT reach the same letter pair by a different route. DETOUR, DEVOUT, and DEVOUR keep O-U in place but change the final letter, a quick way to sort possible answers when you know the pattern but not the ending.

Where do these words stand out in word games?

Scrabble scoring favors the unusual entries: BIJOUX is worth 22 points, MAZOUT 17, and JOYOUS 16 before premium squares. FAVOUR scores 12. If you have a J or X, BIJOUX is a standout rack play, but its uncommon shape is easy to overlook.

Only 19 of the 120 matches are classed as common, despite familiar choices such as FAMOUS and COLOUR. Eighty-four have definitions lexicon, so many remaining entries are less familiar. The 6-letter words with O as the 4th letter and U as the 5th are not accepted uniformly: check your game's word list before relying on an unfamiliar spelling.