6-letter words with P as the 5th letter and E as the 6th letter

The pattern is unusually narrow: P occupies the penultimate position, while E closes every match. Familiar choices include ESCAPE, RECIPE, STRIPE, and SCRAPE, but the shared ending is easier to spot than the uneven dictionary coverage. Collins lists 37 matches, compared with 25 in ENABLE and 26 in NWL2023, so a word accepted in one game may not travel to another.

The pattern at a glance

• Exactly 37 tournament-dictionary words put P fifth and E sixth; every match closes with PE.
• Collins lists all 37, compared with 25 in ENABLE and 26 in NWL2023.
• Only 6 matches rank among the top 25,000 English words by wordfreq frequency.
• ESCAPE, RECIPE, STRIPE, and SCRAPE are familiar examples.
• EQUIPE and ZARAPE each score 17 Scrabble points before board bonuses.

Which 6-letter words end in PE?

Sort candidates by their first letter instead of staring at the shared ending. S leads with 7 words, followed by U with 5; C, E, P, R, and T each begin 3. The first letter still does plenty of separating, even when the final two tiles are fixed.

The pattern is _ _ _ _ P E, so a candidate with P in fourth place does not fit. Familiar examples span several openings: ESCAPE and ECTYPE start with E, RECIPE and RETAPE with R, and STRIPE and STEPPE with S. That spread makes the opening tiles a quick way to narrow a rack or a clue.

Which matches score best, and what is the catch?

EQUIPE and ZARAPE lead the Scrabble scoring at 17 points each, with AWHAPE at 14. SHOPPE, FRAPPE, PYROPE, COTYPE, ECTYPE, and POLYPE each reach 13, making the Q and Z entries standout rack scores. Those totals are before any board premium.

For 6-letter words with P as the 5th letter and E as the 6th letter, points and playability are separate decisions. Only 6 matches are common by word-frequency ranking, and dictionary coverage varies. Several high scorers are unlikely to come to mind unaided, so check your game's word list before playing an unfamiliar candidate.