6-letter words with R as the 2nd letter and L as the 4th letter

The pattern produces a compact set, from familiar plurals such as TROLLS and DRILLS to less common entries like BROLGA and GRILSE. Four matches fall within the common-word frequency band. The mix matters: a recognizable spelling is not always accepted in every game dictionary, and several entries are inflected forms rather than everyday base words.

At a glance: the R–L pattern

• There are 45 six-letter matches for _R_L__ across the listed tournament dictionaries.
• Collins contains 45 matches; NWL2023 has 34, while ENABLE has 31.
• Four matches rank among the commonest English words by frequency.
• PROLIX leads the score ranking at 15 points, before board bonuses.
• P is the most frequent first letter, with 11 words; S is the most frequent last letter, with 16.

6-letter words with R as 2nd and L as 4th letter

TROLLS, DRILLS, GRILLS, and FRILLS show how often this pattern ends in S. ORALLY and FRILLY give you two clear Y endings, while GRILLE ends in E. The letter positions stay fixed, but the final pair changes the feel of the word and can narrow a board search quickly.

P leads the opening-letter counts with 11 matches, ahead of A with 7; B, D, and T each contribute 6. For a fast scan, check P words such as PRELIM and PROLOG first, then test the familiar DRILLS or TROLLS if your final tile could be S. The distribution makes the first slot a useful filter.

Which matches score most?

PROLIX is the top scorer at 15 points, with FRILLY next at 12. FROLIC, TRILBY, BROLLY, and PRELAW each score 11. The counterintuitive pick is PROLIX: its X contributes more than the repeated low-value letters in TROLLS or GRILLS, so it stands out even though it is less familiar.

It also is not equally familiar across dictionaries: 34 matches are marked defined, and Collins includes more entries than NWL2023 or ENABLE. Check your game's word list before relying on an obscure match such as GRILSE.